The colour of my soul is iron-grey and sad bats wheel about the steeple of my dreams.
Claude DebussyRead
Music is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that music, like math, has a structured form which shapes our perception of sounds, just as light can be understood through geometry.
Claude Debussy's quote emphasizes that music and sound can be understood in a systematic way, much like the principles of arithmetic and geometry which define the relationships between numbers and shapes. It highlights the idea that both disciplines are governed by underlying rules and structures that enhance our understanding and appreciation of both sound and light, suggesting a mathematical and geometrical order in creative expressions.
Themes
MusicArtSoundsGeometryLightCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a speech about the importance of arts education.
More from Claude Debussy
All quotes βOn those who overanalyze his music: When you tear the wings off a butterfly, it is no longer a butterfly
Claude DebussyRead
But music, don't you know, is a dream from which the veils have been lifted. It's not even the expression of a feeling, it's the feeling itself.
Claude DebussyRead
People come to music to seek oblivion: is that not also a form of deception?
Claude DebussyRead
Some people wish above all to conform to the rules, I wish only to render what I can hear.
Claude DebussyRead
Art is the most beautiful deception of all!
Claude DebussyRead
Similar quotes
Novels are political because in them, we try to identify with people who are not like us. And, in that sense, I like the first-person singular because I have to imitate accurately the voice of someone who is not like me. The third-person singular gives me an authority over a character.
Orhan PamukRead
If someone asked, 'What are your films like?,' the best I can come up with is that they're, like, a fine balance between comedy and drama. And they deal mainly with the clumsiness of humanity.
Taika WaititiRead
A method of painting is a natural growth out of a need. I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement.
Jackson PollockRead
To the children who loved Harry Potter, I want to say your enthusiasm was the real magic. I so enjoyed being on the journey with you. And to the adults who bought the Harry Potter books and devoured them, I just want to say, those books were for children.
Daniel RadcliffeRead
Drawing is not the same as form, it is a way of seeing form.
Edgar DegasRead
Burlesque girls were alchemists. They were steel-tough performers who were willing to use kitchens as dressing rooms, haul their costume bags through the snow, and go into debt over fake diamonds, all for the five minutes onstage when they were goddesses.
Molly CrabappleRead