Every time while viewing film, reading art work or listening to music the following idea sneaks involuntarily: «How wonderfully was all this invented?» First thing, mind responds to arisen question in the following manner: «It’s all about muses, beautiful women, inciting inspiration». However, the world practice indicates, not all geniuses fancy the pants off wonderful ladies, to create a masterpiece someone needed simply to bathe in the river or to refresh in iced water.
Ludwig van Beethoven. Each time before sitting down at the table and starting music composition, the German composer used to dip his head into a basin with iced water. He thought that the method would stimulate his brain activity, but he couldn’t break off that habit till the end of his life.
Victor Hugo. The French writer derived inspiration by locking himself in his room and stripping to the skin. He used to keep a sheet of paper and a feather on the table and prohibited servants to give him his clothes, unless he finished his work. For completion of his well-known novel "The Ninety Third Year" he had to leave his room in absolutely naked state and poured out a bucket of water on his head every morning. It helped him cheering up, then he continued his writing in the glass cage, which he called, as an observation room.
Charles Dickens. The English writer had quite a strange habit. During his lifetime he liked visiting all mortuaries. Whatever city he arrived, his first action was to visit mortuaries, he could stay there for several hours and got delighted from corpses. The writer called that hankering, as «attraction of repulsion».
Alfred Hitchcock. Well-known film director Hitchcock was also an adherent of strange ways to derive inspiration: he used to lie down in the river Thames, dressed in his suit and meditated.
Honore de Balzac. The great Balzac's whim was the love to drink coffee without sugar. He was considered, as a coffee addict, he drank approximately fifty cups of strong coffee per day. It helped him to get inspiration and to work, but such hobby reflected on his health. Balzac suffered from pains in his stomach and he had high pressure.
Salvador Dali The Spanish painter used to sleep with heavy key in his hands and metallic plate on his feet. During his sleep his hands were weakening and key was falling on the floor. He abruptly was waking up after hearing noise and, namely, during those seconds of consciousness loss new ideas occurred to him.
