Martha Graham

"I hope that every dance I do reveals something of myself or some wonderful thing a human can be."

- Martha Graham

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others"

- Martha Graham

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique."

- Martha Graham

"Freedom to a dancer means discipline. That is what technique is for — liberation."

- Martha Graham

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul"

- Martha Graham

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body."

- Martha Graham

"Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can."

- Martha Graham

"Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion."

- Martha Graham

"Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men."

- Martha Graham

"Dancing appears glamorous, easy, delightful. But the path to paradise of the achievement is not easier than any other. There is fatigue so great that the body cries, even in its sleep. There are times of complete frustration, there are daily small deaths."

- Martha Graham

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost."

- Martha Graham

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul."

- Martha Graham

"The body says what words cannot."

- Martha Graham

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action."

- Martha Graham

"Theater is a verb before it is a noun, an act before it is a place."

- Martha Graham

"To learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same."

- Martha Graham

"Learn by practice."

- Martha Graham

"We learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practising dancing or to learn to live by practising living, the principles are the same."

- Martha Graham

"You are unique, and if that is not fulfilled, then something has been lost."

- Martha Graham

"Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery."

- Martha Graham

"What people in the world think of you is really none of your business."

- Martha Graham

"The body is a sacred garment."

- Martha Graham

"Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion."

- Martha Graham

"Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion."

- Martha Graham

"The spine is the tree of life. Respect it."

- Martha Graham

"Dancing is a very living art. It is essentially of the moment, although a very old art. A dancer’s art is lived while he is dancing. Nothing is left of his art except the pictures and the memories–when his dancing days are over."

- Martha Graham

"It takes ten years, usually, to make a dancer. It takes ten years of handling the instrument, handling the material with which you are dealing, for you to know it completely."

- Martha Graham

"I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. In each, it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. One becomes, in some area, an athlete of God. Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired."

- Martha Graham

"Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired."

- Martha Graham

"Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire."

- Martha Graham

"Dance is a song of the body. Either of joy or pain."

- Martha Graham

"No artist is ahead of his time. He is time; the others are just behind the times."

- Martha Graham

"Dance is the loftiest, most moving, most beautiful of the arts, because it is not a mere translation or abstraction of life; it is life itself!"

- Martha Graham

"You see, when weaving a blanket, an Indian woman leaves a flaw in the weaving of that blanket to let the soul out."

- Martha Graham