To illustrate, the pianist who is practicing a Beethovan sonata has cut himself off, at least for the moment, from playing Bach or Bartok. This is the first aspect of his discipline. Furthermore, his disciplined attention to the sonata allows him the freedom to understand and interpret the work. Finally, the satisfaction that results is the consequence of his freedom to accept a particular level of performance as mastery, and his discipline is performing at that level. Whitehead speaks of freedom and discipline as elements in a rhythm containing three stages.
Interest is developed as one is excited by the possibility of pleasurable activity.
It is essential that every educational event begins with romance. Even here, however, discipline is present in the cutting off of other possible romances. As the freshness of romance wears away, a new craving grows. The emphasis now shifts to discipline, as one learns the right ways and the wrong ways to proceed and discovers the truths to be learned. Freedom here is the positive acceptance of the newly discovered truths.