Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the mind so that it is in accord with what happens. John Cage More Quotes by John Cage More Quotes From John Cage Good music can act as a guide to good living. John Cage good-livingguides It is not irritating to be where one is. It is only irritating to think one would like to be somewhere else. John Cage irritatingsomewhere-elsethinking 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.’ John Cage wallwritingorder I was shocked at college to see one hundred of my classmates in the library all reading copies of the same book. Instead of doing as they did, I went into the stacks and read the first book written by an author whose name began with Z. I received the highest grade in the class. That convinced me that the institution was not being run correctly. I left. John Cage readingrunningbook What I'm proposing, to myself and other people, is what I often call the tourist attitude - that you act as though you've never been there before. So that you're not supposed to know anything about it. If you really get down to brass tacks, we have never been anywhere before. John Cage touristsattitudepeople There is poetry as soon as we realize that we possess nothing. John Cage poeticrealizingpoetry All I know about method is that when I am not working I sometimes think I know something, but when I am working, it is quite clear I know nothing. John Cage methodsometimesthinking Artists talk a lot about freedom. So, recalling the expression "free as a bird," Morton Feldman went to a park one day and spent some time watching our feathered friends. When he came back, he said, "You know? They're not free: they're fighting over bits of food. John Cage fightingartistexpression I want to change my way of seeing, NOT my way of feeling. I was perfectly happy about my feelings. John Cage wantfeelingsway We carry our homes within us which enables us to fly. John Cage home There's no such thing as silence. Something is always happening that makes a sound. John Cage happeningssilencesound 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 Cage laughterordermean My favorite music is the music I haven't yet heard John Cage my-favoritemusic-isheard Whether I make them or not, there are always sounds to be heard and all of them are excellent. John Cage excellentheardsound We need not destroy the past. It is gone. John Cage musicpastneeds Value judgments are destructive to our proper business, which is curiosity and awareness. John Cage judgmentcuriosityawareness 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 Cage inspirationpeopleart People paying attention to vibratory activity, not in reaction to a fixed ideal performance, but each time attentively to how it happens to be this time, not necessarily two times the same. A music that transports the listener to the moment where he is. John Cage attentiontwopeople Which is more musical, a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school? Are the people inside the school musical and the ones outside unmusical? What if the ones inside can't hear very well, would that change my question? John Cage passing-bypeopleschool An error is simply a failure to adjust immediately from a preconception to an actuality. John Cage actualityerrorsevents
