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
My favorite piece [piece of music] is the one we hear all the time if we are quiet.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the idea that silence and listening reveal the beauty of music around us.
John Cage's quote suggests that music is not just found in traditional compositions but also in the ambient sounds of our environment. By being quiet and attentive, we can appreciate the subtle melodies that often go unnoticed, highlighting the concept that art and beauty are omnipresent if we take the time to listen.
Themes
SilenceMusicListeningAwarenessEnvironmentArt
In practice
Example use cases
During a meditation session, I shared John Cage's quote to encourage participants to embrace the surrounding sounds.
More from John Cage
All quotes βWhich 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 donβt have to mean anything, one is music and the other is laughter. Donβt 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
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To give emphasis only to beauty makes me think of a mathematics that deals with positive numbers only.
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Art for art's sake is an empty phrase. Art for the sake of truth, art for the sake of the good and the beautiful, that is the faith I am searching for.
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The only way you can write the truth is to assume that what you set down will never be read. Not by any other person, and not even by yourself at some later date. Otherwise you begin excusing yourself. You must see the writing as emerging like a long scroll of ink from the index finger of your right hand; you must see your left hand erasing it.
Margaret AtwoodRead