Life beats down and crushes the soul, but art reminds you that you have one.

The quote contrasts life’s grinding forces—routine, disappointment, economic pressure, grief—with art’s capacity to restore interiority. “Soul” here functions less as a theological claim than as a name for depth: feeling, moral imagination, and the sense that one’s experience matters. Adler implies that art does not deny suffering; it counters it by reawakening perception and meaning. For actors (and audiences), art becomes a reminder of human complexity and dignity when life reduces people to roles, tasks, or survival. The statement also aligns with Adler’s pedagogy: technique serves a larger purpose—keeping the inner life awake and expansive.