The Pianist in the shopping mall

This is an excerpt from the latest Paulo Coehlo's book, "Like a flowing river", that I am currently reading.

"The pianist plays two more Chopin sonatas, then pieces by Schubert and Mozart. He must be around thirty. A notice besides the stage explains that he is a famous musician from Georgia, one of the ex-Soviet republics. He must have looked for work, found all doors closed, despaired, given up and now he is in this mall. His eyes are fixed on the magical world where music was composed; his hands share all his love, his soul, his enthusiasm, the very best of himself, all his years of study, concentration and discipline. The one thing he appears not to have understood is that no one, absolutely no one, has gone there to listen to him; they have gone there to buy, to eat, to pass the time, to window-shop, or to meet friends."

My mentor, William, had always reminded us not to be bothered by the remarks of critics. (Oh...some of them are so awfully biased. how can they be theatre critics in the first place?) And even if there is only one person in that audience, we should always be sincere to ourself, and perform to our utmost best.