--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I no longer sought skill, flexibility…" description: "\"I no longer sought skill, flexibility, strength, endurance, muscle tone, and quick responsiveness as means of imposing my will on the instrument, but r..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/stephen-nachmanovitch-10483_creative_i-no-longer-sought-skill-flexibility-str_2969093.png" --- # I no longer sought skill, flexibility, strength… ![“I no longer sought skill, flexibility, strength, endurance, muscle tone, and quick responsiveness as means of imposing my will on the instrument, but rather of keeping an open and unrestricted pathway for the creative impulse to play its music straight from the preconscious depths beneath and…” quote by Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/stephen-nachmanovitch-10483_creative_i-no-longer-sought-skill-flexibility-str_2969093.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/stephen-nachmanovitch-10483_creative_i-no-longer-sought-skill-flexibility-str_2969093.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/stephen-nachmanovitch-10483_creative_i-no-longer-sought-skill-flexibility-str_2969093.png) > “I no longer sought skill, flexibility, strength, endurance, muscle tone, and quick responsiveness as means of imposing my will on the instrument, but rather of keeping an open and unrestricted pathway for the creative impulse to play its music straight from the preconscious depths beneath and beyond me.” [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative expression should flow from the subconscious without forced control, allowing natural musical expression. **In simple terms:** Let music flow naturally, without forced control. Key Takeaway Release control, trust inner creativity. Themes creativity musical expression mindfulness Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - music - performance - therapy Key Concepts improvisation psychology artistic flow Questions to Reflect On - How can you cultivate an open creative mindset? - What practices help bypass conscious control? A Different Perspective Over‑control can stifle creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative/) [Creative Impulse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-impulse-285432/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Depth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depth/) [Endurance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endurance/) [Flexibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flexibility/) [Imposing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imposing/) [Imposing Instrument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imposing-instrument-4562305/) [Impulse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/) [Instruments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instruments/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Muscles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/muscles/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Music making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music-making/) [Pathways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pathways/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Responsiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsiveness/) [Skill Flexibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skill-flexibility-4562303/) [Skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skills/) [Sought Skill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sought-skill-4562304/) [Tone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tone/) ## Related quotes > [It is well to be alone. It fertilizes the creative impulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-nordau/it-is-well-to-be-alone-it-fertilizes-the-creative-impulse/) [Max Nordau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-nordau/) > [There was always a creative impulse in me but I never felt rooted to anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-ward/there-was-always-a-creative-impulse-in-me-but-i-never-felt-rooted-to/) [Fred Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-ward/) > [Interesting things happen when the creative impulse is cultivated with curiosity, freedom and intensity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bass/interesting-things-happen-when-the-creative-impulse-is-cultivated/) [Saul Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bass/) > [I think when you get to export your creative impulse into something, it kind of lessens that busy energy that can be so confrontational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-think-when-you-get-to-export-your-creative-impulse-into-something/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [We wanted to create an opportunity for people to share anything, on their own terms, revenue and all. Get away from the commerce side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-dessner/we-wanted-to-create-an-opportunity-for-people-to-share-anything-on/) [Aaron Dessner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-dessner/) > [Keeing busy" is the remedy for all the ills in America. It's also the means by which the creative impulse is destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/keeing-busy-is-the-remedy-for-all-the-ills-in-america-it-s-also-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [The real magic is in making the intangible idea, the creative impulse, manifest and live in our reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ryan/the-real-magic-is-in-making-the-intangible-idea-the-creative-impulse/) [Mark Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ryan/) > [Creativity shouldn't be seen as something otherworldly. It shouldn't be thought of as a process reserved for artists and inventors and other 'creative types.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lehrer/creativity-shouldn-t-be-seen-as-something-otherworldly-it-shouldn-t/) [Jonah Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lehrer/) > [I feel a little as if the Buddhism is creeping back, but I mention all this simply in order to illustrate that there is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-feel-a-little-as-if-the-buddhism-is-creeping-back-but-i-mention-all/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [One recalls how much the creative impulse of the best-sellers depends upon self-pity. It is an emotion of great dramatic potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-pritchett/one-recalls-how-much-the-creative-impulse-of-the-best-sellers-depends/) [V. S. Pritchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-pritchett/) > [There is perhaps no better way of measuring the natural endowment of a soul than by its ability to transmute dissatisfaction into a creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/there-is-perhaps-no-better-way-of-measuring-the-natural-endowment-of/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“I have long considered the creative impulse to be a visit-a thing of grace, perhaps. Not commanded, owned, so much as awaited, prepared for.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loreena-mckennitt/i-have-long-considered-the-creative-impulse-to-be-a-visit-a-thing-of/) [Loreena McKennitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loreena-mckennitt/) > [From the living fountain of instinct flows everything that is creative; hence the unconscious is not merely conditioned by history, but is the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/from-the-living-fountain-of-instinct-flows-everything-that-is/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [“In life, there are brief and momentary opportunities that ask us to assert our existence. Although a creative impulse, they can be destructive, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/in-life-there-are-brief-and-momentary-opportunities-that-ask-us-to/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [Great ages of art come only when a widespread creative impulse meets an equally widespread impulse of sympathy . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-monroe/great-ages-of-art-come-only-when-a-widespread-creative-impulse-meets/) [Harriet Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-monroe/) ## More by Stephen Nachmanovitch > [Improvisation is intuition in action, a way to discover the muse and learn to respond to her call.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/improvisation-is-intuition-in-action-a-way-to-discover-the-muse-and/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [Writing, playing, composing, painting, reading, listening, looking-all require that we submit to being swept away by Eros, to a transformation of self of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/writing-playing-composing-painting-reading-listening-looking-all/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [Play cannot be defined, because in play all definitions slither, dance, combine, break apart, and recombine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/play-cannot-be-defined-because-in-play-all-definitions-slither-dance/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [Play enables us to rearrange our capacities and our very identity so that they can be used in unforeseen ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/play-enables-us-to-rearrange-our-capacities-and-our-very-identity-so/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [If we are transparent, with nothing to hide, the gap between language and being disappears. Then the Muse can speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/if-we-are-transparent-with-nothing-to-hide-the-gap-between-language/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [Many musicians are fabulously skilled at playing the black dots on the printed page, but mystified by how the dots got there in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/many-musicians-are-fabulously-skilled-at-playing-the-black-dots-on/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [In the art of teaching, we recognize that ideas and insights need to cook over a period of time. Sometimes the student who is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/in-the-art-of-teaching-we-recognize-that-ideas-and-insights-need-to/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [Every moment of life is unique-a kiss, a sunset, a dance, a joke. None will ever recur in quite the same way. Each happens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/every-moment-of-life-is-unique-a-kiss-a-sunset-a-dance-a-joke-none/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [Every attempt we make is imperfect; yet each one of those imperfect attempts is an occasion for a delight unlike anything else on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/every-attempt-we-make-is-imperfect-yet-each-one-of-those-imperfect/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [An improviser does not operate from a formless vacuum, but from three billion years of organic evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/an-improviser-does-not-operate-from-a-formless-vacuum-but-from-three/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [Creative work is play. It is free speculation using materials of ones chosen form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/creative-work-is-play-it-is-free-speculation-using-materials-of-ones/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [Brahms once remarked that the mark of an artist is how much he throws away. Nature, the great creator, is always throwing things away.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/brahms-once-remarked-that-the-mark-of-an-artist-is-how-much-he-throws/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [If the art is created with the whole person, then the work will come out whole. Education must teach, reach, and vibrate the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/if-the-art-is-created-with-the-whole-person-then-the-work-will-come/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [Play, creativity, art, spontaneity, all these experiences are their own rewards and are blocked when we perform for reward or punishment, profit or loss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/play-creativity-art-spontaneity-all-these-experiences-are-their-own/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [Technique itself springs from play, because we can acquire technique only by the practice of practice, by persistently experimenting and playing with our tools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/technique-itself-springs-from-play-because-we-can-acquire-technique/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) [Explore all 64 Stephen Nachmanovitch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) ## More Creative quotes > [An artist's creative energy is ephemeral as a flower. It blooms and soon dies. No artist is great forever. Personally, I think I reached…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-ki-duk/an-artist-s-creative-energy-is-ephemeral-as-a-flower-it-blooms-and/) [Kim Ki-duk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-ki-duk/) > [When you're being truly creative, time stands still, and you enter a dimension that can carry you beyond the ordinariness of everyday life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-linn/when-you-re-being-truly-creative-time-stands-still-and-you-enter-a/) [Denise Linn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-linn/) > [I started off playing by ear, and being around a bunch of musicians and playing in the streets and in the different parades and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/troy-andrews/i-started-off-playing-by-ear-and-being-around-a-bunch-of-musicians/) [Troy Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/troy-andrews/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Money is only used for two things. One, it's to make you comfortable, and the more comfortable you are the more creative you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/money-is-only-used-for-two-things-one-it-s-to-make-you-comfortable/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [I can't let fear kill my creative brain. Fear is the killer. Your bad choices come from fear. And I'm constantly combating fear. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-m-chu/i-can-t-let-fear-kill-my-creative-brain-fear-is-the-killer-your-bad/) [Jon M. Chu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-m-chu/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [The creative strength is good enough and deep enough to bring itself to flower and to grow in spite of this sickness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-greenberg/the-creative-strength-is-good-enough-and-deep-enough-to-bring-itself/) [Joanne Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-greenberg/) > [Anytime I get the chance to sing or work with Michael John, it is such an incredibly fertile and incredibly creative and safe and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audra-mcdonald/anytime-i-get-the-chance-to-sing-or-work-with-michael-john-it-is-such/) [Audra McDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audra-mcdonald/) > [What Sri Chinmoy does is God-given! He has a tremendous, a fantastic creative urge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-shankar/what-sri-chinmoy-does-is-god-given-he-has-a-tremendous-a-fantastic/) [Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-shankar/) > [Majority decisions tend to be made without engaging the systematic thought and critical thinking skills of the individuals in the group. Given the force…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/majority-decisions-tend-to-be-made-without-engaging-the-systematic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [when times are tough, the weak bail and the tough get creative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelley-armstrong/when-times-are-tough-the-weak-bail-and-the-tough-get-creative/) [Kelley Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelley-armstrong/) > [Teasing out the way the world might look through another's eyes is what makes the creative process so fascinating and enjoyable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-l-carter/teasing-out-the-way-the-world-might-look-through-another-s-eyes-is/) [Stephen L. Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-l-carter/) > [The creation lives as genesis beneath the visible surface of the work. All intelligent people see this after the fact, but only the creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-creation-lives-as-genesis-beneath-the-visible-surface-of-the-work/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) [Browse all 7,284 Creative quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I no longer sought skill, flexibility, strength, endurance, muscle tone, and quick responsiveness as means of imposing my will on the instrument, but rather of keeping an open and unrestricted pathway for the creative impulse to play its music straight from the preconscious depths beneath and beyond me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen Nachmanovitch" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/i-no-longer-sought-skill-flexibility-strength-endurance-muscle-tone/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creative" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/i-no-longer-sought-skill-flexibility-strength-endurance-muscle-tone/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/stephen-nachmanovitch-10483_creative_i-no-longer-sought-skill-flexibility-str_2969093.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/stephen-nachmanovitch-10483_creative_i-no-longer-sought-skill-flexibility-str_2969093.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/stephen-nachmanovitch-10483_creative_i-no-longer-sought-skill-flexibility-str_2969093.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I no longer sought skill, flexibility, strength, endurance, muscle tone, and quick responsiveness as means…” — Stephen Nachmanovitch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stephen Nachmanovitch", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I no longer sought skill, flexibility,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/i-no-longer-sought-skill-flexibility-strength-endurance-muscle-tone/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/i-no-longer-sought-skill-flexibility-strength-endurance-muscle-tone/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```