We act out our lives to a soundtrack, thought Isabel, the music that becomes, for a spell, out favourite and is listened to again and again until it stands for the time itself. But that was about all the scripting that we achieved; the rest, for most of us, was extemporising.
Alexander McCall Smith
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Isabel reflects on how our lives often feel like they are accompanied by a specific soundtrack, a collection of meaningful songs that resonate with particular moments. These tunes become intertwined with our experiences, representing a period in time until they are replayed countless times, evoking nostalgia and memory. Yet, despite this musical background, she recognizes that most of life unfolds spontaneously, like improvisation rather than a carefully written script.

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The Right Attitude to Rain
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Alexander McCall Smith
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Other quotes in The Right Attitude to Rain

The whole culture of work had become so intrusive and demanding that people had to do it. And the result was that they were left with little time for simply living their lives, for going for a walk, for sitting in a bar, for reading a book. It was all work.
Alexander McCall Smith The Right Attitude to Rain
The whole culture of work had become so intrusive and demanding that people had to do it. And the result was that they were left with little time for simply living their lives, for going for a walk, for sitting in a bar, for reading a book. It was all work.
Children, like cats, made a house into a home, and the echoes of their presence lingered.
Alexander McCall Smith The Right Attitude to Rain
Children, like cats, made a house into a home, and the echoes of their presence lingered.
Nobody enjoys being on display," said Isabel. But then she thought: Some do, and so she added, "Except actors. And narcissists.
Alexander McCall Smith The Right Attitude to Rain
Nobody enjoys being on display," said Isabel. But then she thought: Some do, and so she added, "Except actors. And narcissists.
You haven't offended me at all. You've made me think. That's all.
Alexander McCall Smith The Right Attitude to Rain
You haven't offended me at all. You've made me think. That's all.
In bed that night, in the darkness, with the illuminated dial of her alarm clock glowing from the bedside table, she asked herself whether one could force oneself to like somebody, or whether one could merely create the conditions for affection to come into existence and hope that it did, spontaneously.
Alexander McCall Smith The Right Attitude to Rain
In bed that night, in the darkness, with the illuminated dial of her alarm clock glowing from the bedside table, she asked herself whether one could force oneself to like somebody, or whether one could merely create the conditions for affection to come into existence and hope that it did, spontaneously.
You have each other, thought Isabel.But was that enough? Even when one was in love, it was not really enough just to have the other person - not if one needed stimulation. The company of just one person could be reassuring, could stave off loneliness, but would it be enough for three months?
Alexander McCall Smith The Right Attitude to Rain
You have each other, thought Isabel.But was that enough? Even when one was in love, it was not really enough just to have the other person - not if one needed stimulation. The company of just one person could be reassuring, could stave off loneliness, but would it be enough for three months?
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Other quotes in music

I was being very bad because I didn't know how to express myself. Music gave me an outlet to express myself and channel that anger.
Tory Lanez
I was being very bad because I didn't know how to express myself. Music gave me an outlet to express myself and channel that anger.
They had taken to the movement unlike anything he had ever seen, and he thought that should this venture of the Jews prove successful, the new state would be filled with dancers and musicians, but especially dancers, for dancing like nothing else says: I am still alive.
Mark Helprin Refiner's Fire
They had taken to the movement unlike anything he had ever seen, and he thought that should this venture of the Jews prove successful, the new state would be filled with dancers and musicians, but especially dancers, for dancing like nothing else says: I am still alive.
I wish that, like you, I could have spent my life transported aloft, as it were, every day, in music. Instead, I've lived like a caffeinated parrot.
Mark Helprin Paris in the Present Tense
I wish that, like you, I could have spent my life transported aloft, as it were, every day, in music. Instead, I've lived like a caffeinated parrot.
If it weren't for music, I would think that love is mortal.
Mark Helprin A Soldier of the Great War
If it weren't for music, I would think that love is mortal.
Tax not so bad a voice to slander music any more than once.
William Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing
Tax not so bad a voice to slander music any more than once.
The smoke detectors began to ring; for they were battery-powered and thus still functioned, just as a record can still be played after the death of every member of the orchestra.
William T. Vollmann You Bright and Risen Angels
The smoke detectors began to ring; for they were battery-powered and thus still functioned, just as a record can still be played after the death of every member of the orchestra.
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