Martha Graham Quotations

First we have to believe, and then we believe.

No animal ever has an ugly body until it is domesticated. It is the same with the human body.

In 1980, a well-meaning fundraiser came to see me and said, "Miss Graham, the most powerful thing you have going for you to raise money is your respectability." I wanted to spit. Respectable! Show me any artist who wants to be respectable.

Dancers are the messengers of the gods.

In the end, it all comes down to the art of breathing.

Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired.

The center of the stage is where I am.

I don't think in Art there is ever a precedent; each moment is a new one & terrifying & threatening & bursting with hope.

The reason dance has held such an ageless magic for the world is that it has been the symbol of the performance of living.

At the time I started in ballet they were dancing 'The Spirit of Champagne' on pointe, in Paris. I thought, 'I don't want to dance the spirit of champagne, I want to drink it!