QuoteProject
Everything we do is music." (Classical Composer)(From: 4'33")
John Cage
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that all actions can be viewed as forms of expression, similar to music.

John Cage's quote highlights the idea that every action we take, whether intentional or not, contributes to the symphony of life, akin to music which is made up of sounds, silences, and rhythms. It urges us to recognize the artistic elements in our everyday experiences, encouraging a deeper appreciation of the world around us and the myriad ways we express ourselves.

Themes

MusicArtExpressionLifeAction

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in an art class to inspire students to view their creative process as a form of music.

More from John Cage

Food, one assumes, provides nourishment; but Americans eat it fully aware that small amounts of poison have been added to improve its appearance and delay its putrefaction.
John CageRead
Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?
John CageRead
There was a German philosopher who is very well known, his name was Immanuel Kant, and he said there are two things that don’t have to mean anything, one is music and the other is laughter. Don’t have to mean anything that is, in order to give us deep pleasure.
John CageRead
I remember loving sound before I ever took a music lesson. And so we make our lives by what we love.
John CageRead
I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.
John CageRead
People who aren't artists often feel that artists are inspired. But if you work at your art you don't have time to be inspired.
John CageRead

Similar quotes

One of the things that writing has taught me is that fiction has a life of its own. Fictional places are sometimes more real than the view from our bedroom window. Fictional people can sometimes become as close to us as our loved ones.
Joanne HarrisRead
I always thought I'd eventually learn how to draw really well, and despite constant evidence to the contrary, I just kept on trying. If you're too good at anything, you don't have to think about the process, whereas I feel like I spend my life with my head under the bonnet, trying to understand how everything works.
Mark HaddonRead
Music from my fourth year began to be the first of my youthful occupations. Thus early acquainted with the gracious muse who tuned my soul to pure harmonies, I became fond of her, and, as it often seemed to me, she of me.
Ludwig Van BeethovenRead
What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat,’.... And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.
Maya AngelouRead
A good poet feels what his community feels. _x000D_ Like if you stub your toe, the rest of your body hurts.
Gil Scott-HeronRead
Art when really understood is the province of every human being. It is simply a question of doing things, anything, well. It is not an outside, extra thing.
Robert HenriRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.