On Practicing

The only thing that remains really true is the feeling that at the end of the day, I know that I really played good or I didn’t. Or that I made some progress and I understand something that I didn’t understand at the beginning of the day, or I don’t. This to me, is the real currency of what it is to have a life of a musician. This accumulated wisdom and insight into the reality of music, and as much of a stretch as it might be sometimes, therefore into life and living…The main thing in my life, even as I stand here right now, right this second, is that I really need to go home and practice.
— Pat Metheny, 1996 Berklee Commencement Speech