"When you want something very dearly, you make the time"
About this Quote
There’s a quiet steeliness in Nana Mouskouri’s line: “When you want something very dearly, you make the time.” It sounds like a gentle pep talk, but the subtext is tougher. She’s not praising hustle for hustle’s sake; she’s rewriting “I’m too busy” as a kind of self-deception. Time isn’t discovered like spare change in a couch cushion. It’s allocated. And allocation is a confession of priorities.
Coming from a musician whose career spans decades, continents, and constant movement, the intent reads less like a motivational poster and more like lived logistics. Touring, rehearsing, recording, television appearances, and the sheer stamina required to stay culturally legible across eras all demand an unromantic discipline. “Make the time” points to the backstage truth: art is rarely the product of inspiration alone. It’s the result of decisions made when you’re tired, distracted, or tempted to defer your own ambition.
The phrase “very dearly” does subtle work. It frames desire as cost-bearing: you pay for what you love, often in the currency of sleep, comfort, or other people’s expectations. That’s an especially sharp message in a culture that treats busyness as virtue and postponement as inevitability. Mouskouri is insisting that longing without scheduling is just performance.
It also carries a quiet challenge to the listener’s self-image. If you’re not making time, maybe you don’t want it as much as you say. That’s not cruelty; it’s clarity. In three clauses, she turns aspiration into a calendar.
Coming from a musician whose career spans decades, continents, and constant movement, the intent reads less like a motivational poster and more like lived logistics. Touring, rehearsing, recording, television appearances, and the sheer stamina required to stay culturally legible across eras all demand an unromantic discipline. “Make the time” points to the backstage truth: art is rarely the product of inspiration alone. It’s the result of decisions made when you’re tired, distracted, or tempted to defer your own ambition.
The phrase “very dearly” does subtle work. It frames desire as cost-bearing: you pay for what you love, often in the currency of sleep, comfort, or other people’s expectations. That’s an especially sharp message in a culture that treats busyness as virtue and postponement as inevitability. Mouskouri is insisting that longing without scheduling is just performance.
It also carries a quiet challenge to the listener’s self-image. If you’re not making time, maybe you don’t want it as much as you say. That’s not cruelty; it’s clarity. In three clauses, she turns aspiration into a calendar.
Quote Details
| Topic | Time |
|---|
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