Intellectual work, the pursuit of achievement in the high regions of the mind, is one of the greatest of human endeavours. What most deserves glory in art (for in that word we must include all mental creativity) is, above all, courage, a courage of which ordinary people have no idea and which, perhaps for the first time, is revealed here...
To think, to dream, to conceive beautiful works of art, is a delightful occupation. It is like smoking magic cigars, like living the life of a courtesan who heeds only her own caprices. The work then appears in all its initial charm, in the wild delight of its invention, with its flower-like colours and perfumes and the sweet-tasting juices of a fruit savoured in anticipation. Such are the pleasures of conception.
Honore De Balzac. Cousin Bette
Su lao dong tinh than, cuoc di san trong nhung vung tham u cua tri tue, la mot trong nhung suc co gang lon nhut cua con nguoi. Trong Nghe Thuat, vi phai hieu duoi chu ay tat ca nhung sang tao cua tu duy, thi cai truoc nhut dang duoc huong vinh quang la su can dam, mot thu can dam ma nhung nguoi tam thuong khong nghi toi duoc. Va o day, no duoc dem ra giai thich lan nay co le la lan dau...
Suy tu, mo tuong, quan niem den nhung cong trinh dep do la nhung cham lo thu vi. Do la hut nhung dieu xi ga than tien, do la song cuoc song cua gai diem, chi biet chay theo so thich. Tac pham lien hien ra trong ve dep cua tuoi au tho, trong cai vui dien cuong cua the he, voi nhung mau sac duoc uop bang huong hoa va mat nhuy thom tho cua trai cay chua an ma da thay ngon. Do la quan niem va nhung lac thu cua no.
Dinh gia: Nguyen van Tran
He who can describe his plan in words is already deemed to be an extraordinary man. All writers and artists have this ability. But to produce! To bring to birth! To work hard at rearing the child, to put it to bed every night well-fed with milk, to kiss it every morning with the inexhaustible love of a mother, to lick it clean, to dress it a hundred times in the prettiest of jackets which it tears again and again; but not to be discouraged by the convulsions of this mad life and to turn it into the living masterpiece which speaks to all eyes in sculpture, to all hearts in music, that is the task of execution! The hand must be ready at every moment to work in obedience to the mind. And the mind is not creative to order, any more than love flows uninterruptedly.
Honore De Balzac. Cousin Bette
Nguoi nao co the ve ke hoach cua minh ra bang loi thi da co the duoc coi nhu la mot nguoi phi thuong. Cai nang luc ay, moi nghe si deu co. Nhung con chuyen san xuat ra! Nhung con chuyen de ra! Can cu nuoi dua con, moi toi cho no di ngu, mieng mom u sua, va moi buoi sang hon hit no voi trai tim khong bao gio kho can cua nguoi me, liem no khi no do, mac cho no tram lan voi nhung tam ao cang dep hon ma no cu xe hoai, nhung van ben chi khong nao nung va tu do lam ra nhung tac pham tuyet voi, nhung tac pham song dong, biet noi voi moi tri tue cua van chuong, voi mot cai nhin cua dieu khac, voi tat ca di vat trong hoi hao. Do la thuc hanh va nhung tac pham cua no. Ban tay luc nao cung phai san sang tuan linh cai dau. Nhung cai dau dau con co nhung khieu sang tao de chi huy khi ma tinh yeu nghe thuat khong con ben vung.
Dinh gia: Nguyen van Tran
Let the ignorant be informed! If the artist does not throw himself into his work, like Curtius into the gulf beneath the Forum, like a soldier against a fortress, without hesitation, and if, in that crater, he does not work like a miner under a fall of rock, if, in short, he envisages the difficulties in stead of conquering them one by one, following the example of lovers in fairy-tales who, to win their princesses, struggled against recurring enchantments, the work remains unfinished, it expires in the studio, where production remains impossible and the artist looks on at the suicide of his own talent.
Rossini, a genius akin to Raphael, affords a striking example in the contrasts between the poverty of his youth and the affluence of his maturity.
That is the reason for the same reward, the same triumph, the same laurel wreath being granted to great poets and great generals.
Honore De Balzac. Cousin Bette
Nhung nguoi dot nat phai biet! Neu nghe si khong lao vao tac pham cua no nhu Curtius lao xuong ho, nhu nguoi linh duoi chien hao khong he suy nghi dan do; va neu trong cai mieng nui lua ay ma no khong lam viec nhu nguoi tho mo sap bi dat sup chon vui; neu thay vi danh bai tung cai mot nhung kho khan, no lai lang ngam nhung kho khan theo guong nhung ke ai mo than tien, nhung thien than da chien dau voi nhung yeu thuat cu tai sanh ra mai, de danh duoc nhung tien nu cua ho, thi tac pham bi bo do, chet rui trong hoc xuong, noi do, moi su sang tac se khong con va nguoi nghe si se ngoi nhin tai nghe cua minh tu sat.
Rossini, thien tai dang buc anh em voi Raphael, da cho mot guong mau ro rang ve cai tuoi tre ngheo nan ma duoc vun dap thanh mot tuoi truong thanh phong phu.
Do la ly do tai sao nguoi ta trong vong, nguoi ta danh gia ngang nhau su thanh cong ma tang thuong cung mot canh nguyet que cho nhung nha tho lon cung nhu cho nhung vi tuong quan vi dai.
Dinh gia: Nguyen van Tran
The habit of creation, the indefatigable maternal love which makes a mother (that natural masterpiece so well understood by Raphael), in short, that intellectual maternity which is so difficulty to acquire, is remarkably easy to lose. Inspiration gives genius its opportunity. It runs, not on a razor's edge, but on the very air and takes wing with the quick alarm of a crow. It wears no scarf that the poet can grasp; its hair is flame; it flies away like those beautiful pink and white flamingoes that are the despair of huntsmen. So work is a wearing struggle that is both feared and loved by the fine and powerful constitutions that are often shattered by it. A great poet of our own day said, speaking of this appalling toil, "I begin it with despair and leave it with sorrow."
Honore De Balzac. Cousin Bette
Thoi quen sang tao ay, tinh yeu khong met moi cua mau tinh da tao ra nguoi me (cai tac pham thien nhien ay ra duoc Raphael hieu biet), noi mot canh khac, cai mau tinh sang tao ay rat kho co duoc ma lai de mat nhu choi. Cam Hung la co hoi cua Thien Tai. No chay thoan thoat, no o trong may, no vut bay di nhu lu qua ho nghi, no khong co khan that lung cua phu nu de nha tho co the niu keo; toc dau cua no la mot ngon lua, no chay tron nhu nhung con hong hac lam thoi chi su rinh rap cua nguoi di san. Vay nen lao dong la mot cuoc chien dau nhoc met, ma nhung the chat dep de va cuong trang ai ngai, yeu thich nhung lam khi lai de cho nghi luc ra roi. Mot nha tho lon da noi ve cai lao luc khung khiep ay nhu vay: "Toi dan than vao do voi noi that vong, nhung toi xa lia no voi niem buon lo."
Dinh gia: Nguyen van Tran