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Art & Creativity Quote by Clarence Clemons

"In the mental calmness of a spiritual life, I have found that the answers to the whys in our lives are able to come to you. In my music I find the same thing"

About this Quote

Clarence Clemons is describing inspiration as something you don`t chase so much as allow. The line hinges on “mental calmness,” a phrase that feels almost anti-rock: not the sweaty catharsis of performance, but the quiet backstage condition that makes meaning legible. He frames spiritual life less as doctrine than as a practiced stillness, a way of lowering the volume on the panic and noise that usually swallow the “whys” in our lives. The answers “are able to come to you” is deliberate phrasing: passive, patient, almost humble. It rejects the macho myth of the artist conquering mystery through sheer will.

Then he makes the key move: “In my music I find the same thing.” Music isn’t presented as a vehicle for answers delivered from on high; it’s another form of calmness, another discipline of attention. For Clemons - best known as the Big Man of the E Street Band, whose saxophone often acted like a second voice in Springsteen’s narratives - this reads like a manifesto of accompaniment. The sax solos that soar over working-class epics aren’t just decoration; they’re moments where the unsaid becomes breathable. His intent is to legitimize intuition: meaning arrives when you create the conditions for it, whether through prayer, routine, or the physical ritual of playing.

Subtextually, it’s a gentle corrective to a culture that treats self-knowledge as a productivity hack. Clemons points to something older and less controllable: clarity as a side effect of presence.

Quote Details

TopicMeaning of Life
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Clemons, Clarence. (2026, January 17). In the mental calmness of a spiritual life, I have found that the answers to the whys in our lives are able to come to you. In my music I find the same thing. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-the-mental-calmness-of-a-spiritual-life-i-have-47609/

Chicago Style
Clemons, Clarence. "In the mental calmness of a spiritual life, I have found that the answers to the whys in our lives are able to come to you. In my music I find the same thing." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-the-mental-calmness-of-a-spiritual-life-i-have-47609/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"In the mental calmness of a spiritual life, I have found that the answers to the whys in our lives are able to come to you. In my music I find the same thing." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-the-mental-calmness-of-a-spiritual-life-i-have-47609/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

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Clarence Clemons (January 11, 1942 - June 18, 2011) was a Musician from USA.

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