In these days of social media, it’s so easy to get caught up in acquaintances’ lives and funny memes and to put off READING GOOD BOOKS. At the end of 2019, I started to reread a book I liked. I told my violin students I would read it along with them, for a book review I wanted to have. I had recently moved to a more rural area and built up a brand new studio. Hardly any of my students had ever had private lessons before, having learned violin in school. Since I’m a Suzuki teacher, I thought it was important that all my new students understand the premises behind the Suzuki Method. So I assigned us all to read Nurtured by Love, a relatively short, anecdotal autobiography of Shinichi Suzuki’s life and philosophies. As I delved into this book again, I immediately fell in love with it. Here are some notable quotes that I hope you enjoy and can relate to:
“‘Professor, will my boy amount to something?’ the mother asked me, just like that."“No, he will not become ‘something’. He will become a noble person through his violin playing. Isn’t that good enough? You should stop wanting your child to become a professional, a good money earner. A person with a fine and pure heart will find happiness. The only concern for parents should be to bring up their children as noble human beings. That is sufficient. Your son plays the violin very well. We must try to make him splendid in mind and heart also.”
“One day a foreign priest I knew came to my house and said, ‘You should come to church and pray harder to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ ‘No, Father,’ I replied, ‘I am no longer so presumptuous . . . .’ I did not mean, of course, that I did not want to go to heaven. If I simply do my best, I cannot complain even if I am taken to hell. It is an extremely submissive attitude. . . .”
As Suzuki was taught by his father, “Whatever holy place I visit I only express gratitude, saying, ‘Thank you very much.'
“You will one day realize that it is the greatest and best blessing on earth to come in contact with [people] of high humanism...and whatever you can absorb of [their] greatness and beauty of character will determine your worth as a person....Never lose your humility, for pride obscures the power to perceive truth and greatness.”
“Exertion is always beneficial as long as one is aware that it is goal oriented.”
“‘I have no talents’—what sadness and despair are occasioned by this nonsensical belief! For years, people everywhere have succumbed to this false way of thinking, which is really only an excuse for avoiding work.”
“Achievement is the product of energy and patience.”
“Never lend or borrow money. If you have enough to lend, it is better to share it, and share your friends’ hardships too.” (Letter from his father)
“It is not right to offer a pittance in the way of alms and then ask for a great deal for oneself in return.”
“I played with children so that I could learn from them. I wanted always to have the meekness of a child.”
“In order to succeed one must first be a person of fine character.”
“To merely ‘want’ to do something is not enough.”
“[Remember to] ‘play’ with the violin.”
“I just want to make good citizens. If a child hears good music from the day of his birth, and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart.”
“If nations cooperate in raising good children, perhaps there won’t be any war.”
“Talent is not inherited or inborn but has to be learned and developed.”
