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John Cage

John Cage Quotes

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Famous John Cage Quotes

“What is the purpose of writing music? One is, of course, not dealing with purposes but dealing with sounds. Or the answer must take the form of a paradox: a purposeful purposeless or a purposeless play. This play, however, is an affirmation of life--not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we’re living, which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind and one’s desires out of its way and lets it act of its own accord.”

WayWritingMindPlayFormDesirePurposeOrderCoursesSoundAnswersCreationWake UpChaosImprovementExcellentParadoxWakingAffirmationAccordWriting MusicPurpose Of Writing
Author:John Cage
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“After I had been studying with him for two years, Schoenberg said, ‘In order to write music, you must have a feeling for harmony.’ I explained to him that I had no feeling for harmony. He then said that I would always encounter an obstacle, that it would be as though I came to a wall through which I could not pass. I said, ‘In that case I will devote my life to beating my head against that wall.’”

WritingYearsSaidTwoFeelingsWould BeOrderCasesStudyWallHarmonyObstaclesEncountersTwo YearsSchoenberg
Author:John Cage
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“Paper should be edible, nutritious. Inks used for printing or writing should have delicious flavors. Magazines or newspapers read at breakfast should be eaten for lunch. Instead of throwing one's mail in the waste-basket, it should be saved for the dinner guests.”

ShouldWritingUsedWastePaperShould HaveDinnerSavedNewspapersMagazinesBreakfastLunchThrowingGuestsMailDeliciousFlavorInkPrintingBasketsDinner Guests
Book:M: Writings ’67–’72
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