Martha Graham

“They never raised a statue to a critic.”

“All that is important is this one moment in movement. Make the moment important, vital, and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.”

“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 it will be lost.”

“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 perfor...”

“To me, a building - if it's beautiful - is the love of one man, he's made it out of his love for space, materials, things like that.”

“The body is a sacred garment.”

“Think of the magic of that foot, comparatively small, upon which your whole weight rests. It's a miracle, and the dance is a celebration of that miracle.”

“Censorship is the height of vanity.”

“Every dance is a kind of fever chart, a graph of the heart.”

“I did not want to be a tree, a flower or a wave. In a dancer's body, we as audience must see ourselves, not the imitated behavior of everyday actions, not the phenomenon of nature, not exoti...”

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

“Nothing is more revealing than movement.”

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

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

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

“'Age' is the acceptance of a term of years. But maturity is the glory of years.”

“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. One becomes in some area an athlete of G...”