Words to Live By: Artists We Lost in 2019

— Toni Morrison

Author, born 1931

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“Architecture is the very mirror of life. You only have to cast your eyes on buildings to feel the presence of the past, the spirit of a place; they are the reflection of society.”

— I.M. Pei

Architect, born 1917

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“In my films I always wanted to make people see deeply. I don’t want to show things, but to give people the desire to see.”

— Agnes Varda

Filmmaker, born 1928

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“I felt like I belonged on a screen. I don’t know why. I guess because I related to the people up on that screen much more than the people around me.”

— Luke Perry

Actor, born 1966

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“Pigeonholes are for pigeons.”

— Jessye Norman

Opera singer, born 1945

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“It may be a waning art, the art of reading closely, lovingly, scrupulously with the excitement of seeing how the text will unfold.”

— Harold Bloom

Literary critic, born 1930

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“I believe that my dancing is the most eloquent testament that I shall leave.”

— Alicia Alonso

Ballet dancer, born 1920

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“There is never a question of what to paint, but only how to paint. The how of painting has always been the image — the end product.”

— Robert Ryman

Painter, born 1930

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“I cherish every minisecond of this life.”

— Juice WRLD

Rapper, born 1998

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“I really don’t spend time thinking about the past. I think about the future.”

— Hal Prince

Theater producer and director, born 1928

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“I write these lyrics, and sometimes I read them afterwards on the album sleeve and think to myself, ‘God, what an attitude!’”

— Ric Ocasek

Singer, guitarist and songwriter, born 1944

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“Different films resonate with viewers for different reasons, but the common thread seems to be that my films are uplifting.”

— Doris Day

Actress, born 1922

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When it’s over, I want to say: all my life

I was a bride married to amazement.

I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

— Mary Oliver, “When Death Comes”

Poet, born 1935

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“The job of a drummer is to make the singer or guitarist sound really good. So it’s all about listening, and it’s all about improvising, responding to what’s going on around you.”

— Ginger Baker

Drummer, born 1939

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“How many actresses receive a call at 50 to play an overdressed black bitch on an international hit show like ‘Dynasty?’”

— Diahann Carroll

Actress, born 1935

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“The desire to reach for the sky runs very deep in the human psyche.”

— Cesar Pelli

Architect, born 1926

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“What a long, strange trip it’s been.”

— Robert Hunter, “Truckin’,” the Grateful Dead

Lyricist, born 1941

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“We had the right to vote as American citizens. We didn’t have to be granted it by some bunch of guys.”

— Cokie Roberts

Journalist, born 1943

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“I have thought of myself as a star since I was about 15.”

— Mable Lee

Tap dancer, born 1921

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“The cinema saved me from being a delinquent.”

— John Singleton

Filmmaker, born 1968

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“I am not a decorator. The only place I decorate is my own house.”

— Florence Knoll Bassett

Designer, born 1917

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“Let the other guys do the crybaby stuff. Go for the laughs.”

— Rip Torn

Actor, born 1931

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“I’m having an affair with dance, and it’s the best thing I ever could have done. It’s like water to a duck; it’s natural.”

— Mel A. Tomlinson

Ballet dancer, born 1954

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“You know, if you’re lucky enough to have two smash hit shows, the traffic of the world goes through your dressing room.”

— Carol Channing

Actress, born 1921

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“My films are the celebration of reality, of life, of my friends, of actual daily life that passes and is gone tomorrow.”

— Jonas Mekas

Filmmaker, born 1922

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“I have always believed that opera is a planet where the muses work together, join hands and celebrate all the arts.”

— Franco Zeffirelli

Opera and film director, born 1923

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“Rhoda, like most of us, was a victorious loser.”

— Valerie Harper

Actress, born 1939

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“In many instances I am reminding actors of things that they knew but had forgotten, and in other instances I am asking them to forget that they have learned beforehand if it is obstructing a way forward.”

— Jonathan Miller

Theater and opera director, born 1934

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“Jazz to me is a lifelong quest, because you never finish searching for that high you can reach when everything’s clickin’ and the audience is right there with you.”

— Clora Bryant

Musician, born 1927

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“I don’t feature myself as being the head man. I would much rather stand in the background and make small, funny things go than be up at the head of the class.”

— Tim Conway

Comedian, born 1933

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“I don’t think any musician plays anything that is new. Everything musical has been played.”

— Dr. John

Musician, born 1941

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“I like to write for the so-called pedestrian people.”

— C.Y. Lee

Author, born 1915

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“You have to judge a director by his very best work, and then get it out of him.”

— Robert Evans

Film producer, born 1930

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“You no longer have to do just Broadway shows, or movies, or conduct — you can do any or all of them.”

— André Previn

Musician, born 1929

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“I never thought I was shocking. I say this all the time and it sounds disingenuous, but I always thought: ‘This is something they need. My culture is going to recognize it’s missing something.’”

— Carolee Schneemann

Performance artist, born 1939

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“I’ll never be able to explain why these vibrating frequencies have the power to transport us to levels of consciousness that defy words — I simply accept the fact that music has this miraculous power for me and for myriad other people I have known.”

— Christopher Rouse

Composer, born 1949

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“Every person can look back on their life and see a great opera.”

— John Giorno

Poet, born 1936

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .

Words to Live By: Artists We Lost in 2019

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