Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by John Cage

Quote by John Cage

Work

Silence: Lectures and Writings

This book presents a series of lectures and written works from John Cage, the pioneering American experimental composer renowned for his innovative approach to music and sound. The collection offers insights into Cage's artistic philosophy, his experimental methods, and his unconventional perspectives on the creative process. Through various essays and lectures, Cage discusses concepts related to silence, chance, and the boundaries of musical artistry. As one of the influential figures in twentieth-century avant-garde music, Cage challenged traditional musical conventions and explored the relationship between sound, environment, and performer. The writings reflect his engagement with Eastern philosophical ideas and his collaborative work with artists including Merce Cunningham. The book provides readers with an opportunity to understand the intellectual foundation behind Cage's groundbreaking musical compositions and his lasting impact on contemporary music and art. more

Author

John Cage
John Cage

John Cage (September 5, 1912 - August 12, 1992) was an American composer, music theorist, writer, and experimental musician. Known for his unique approach to music composition and exploration of sound, Cage's works often broke the boundaries of traditional music, profoundly influencing modern music. more

You May Also Like

“There is laughter that goes so far as to lose all touch with its motive, and to exist only, grossly, in itself. This is laughter at its best. A man to whom such laughter has often been granted may happen to die in a work-house. No matter. I will not admit that he has failed in life. Another man, who has never laughed thus, may be buried in Westminster Abbey, leaving more than a million pounds overhead. What then? I regard him as a failure.”

MenMayMatterHappensDiesHouseLosesMillionsLaughterRegardLeavingGrantedMotivePoundsBuriedLaughedAnother ManOverheadAbbeyWestminsterWestminster Abbey
Book:And Even Now: And, A Christmas Garland
Create image

“Has the gift of laughter been withdrawn from me? I protest that I do still, at the age of forty-seven, laugh often and loud and long. But not, I believe, so long and loud and often as in my less smiling youth. And I am proud, nowadays, of laughing, and grateful to any one who makes me laugh. That is a bad sign. I no longer take laughter as a matter of course.”

BelieveLongStillsMatterAgeCoursesI BelieveLaughingYouthProudLaughterGratefulSevenLoudFortyProtestMake Me LaughGift Of LaughterLaugh Often
Book:The Prince of Minor Writers: The Selected Essays of Max Beerbohm
Create image

“Few, as I have said, are the humorists who can induce this state. To master and dissolve us, to give us the joy of being worn down and tired out with laughter, is a success to be won by no man save in virtue of a rare staying-power. Laughter becomes extreme only if it be consecutive. There must be no pauses for recovery. Touch-and-go humour, however happy, is not enough. The jester must be able to grapple his theme and hang on to it, twisting it this way and that, and making it yield magically all manner of strange and precious things.”

IfsMenWayGivingSaidStatesEnoughAbleJoyVirtueHumourStrangeMastersLaughterDown AndTiredExtremesRecoveryThemeStayingYieldWornPausesHumoristsPrecious ThingsJesterConsecutiveStaying Power
Book:And Even Now
Create image

“The most perfect caricature is that which, on a small surface, with the simplest means, most accurately exaggerates, to the highest point, the peculiarities of a human being, at his most characteristic moment in the most beautiful manner.”

HumansMeanMomentsBeautifulHuman BeingsPerfectHighestSurfaceCharacteristicsSimplestCaricatures
Book:The Prince of Minor Writers: The Selected Essays of Max Beerbohm
Create image

“For a young man, sleep is a sure solvent of distress. There whirls not for him in the night any so hideous phantasmagoria as will not become, in the clarity of the next morning, a spruce procession for him to lead. Brief the vague horror of his awakening; memory sweeps back to him, and he sees nothing dreadful after all. "Why not?" is the sun's bright message to him, and "Why not indeed?" his answer.”

MenYoungNightNextMemoriesSleepAnswersMorningSunHorrorMessagesAwakeningClarityYoung ManWhy NotDistressVagueHideousProcession
Book:Zuleika Dobson: An Oxford Love Story
Create image