From Life’s Journeys According to Mister Rogers, pp. 30-31
Yo-Yo Ma is one of the most other-oriented geniuses I’ve ever known. His music comes from a place very deep within his being. During a master class, Yo-Yo gently led young cellists into understandings about their instruments, their music, and their “selves” which, some of them told me later, they would carry with them forever.
I can still see the face of one young man who had just finished playing a movement of a Brahms cello sonata when Yo-Yo said, “Nobody else can make the sound you make.” Of course, he meant it as a compliment to the young man; nevertheless, he meant that also for everyone in the class. Nobody else can make the sound you make. Nobody can choose to make that particular sound in that particular way.
Nobody else can live the life you live. And even though no human being is perfect, we always have the chance to bring what’s unique about us to life.