"Long before there was Yo-Yo Ma, there was Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor Pablo Casals (December 29, 1876-October 22, 1973), regarded by many as the greatest cellist of all time. The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the U.N. Peace Medal for his unflinching dedication to justice and his lifelong stance against oppression and dictatorship, Casals was as much an extraordinary artist as he was an extraordinary human being -- a generous and kind man of uncommon compassion and goodness of heart, a passionate spirit in love with life, and an unflinching idealist. And yet, like many exceptional people, he cultivated his character through an early brush with suffering." Maria Popova shares a window into Casal's creative vitality and relationship to work.
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