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
I certainly had no feeling for harmony, and Schoenberg thought that that would make it impossible for me to write music. He said, 'You'll come to a wall you won't be able to get through.' So I said, 'I'll beat my head against that wall.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a determination to overcome creative obstacles despite lacking traditional skills or understanding.
John Cage expresses his resolve to push through challenges in music composition, even when faced with skepticism about his ability to grasp musical harmony. The metaphor of 'beating his head against a wall' illustrates his willingness to confront difficulties head-on, suggesting that perseverance and a fierce commitment to creativity can lead to breakthroughs, even without conventional knowledge or understanding.
Themes
CreativityMusicPerseveranceChallengeDetermination
In practice
Example use cases
In a presentation on artistic innovation, you might quote this to inspire others facing creative blocks.
More from John Cage
All quotes →Which 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 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 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
Similar quotes
I took Punk to be the detonation of some slow-fused projectile buried deep in society's flank a decade earlier, and I took it to be, somehow, a sign.
William GibsonRead
When the bright angel dominates, out comes a great work of art, a Michelangelo David or a Beethoven symphony.
Madeleine L'EngleRead
Colors in painting are as allurements for persuading the eyes, as the sweetness of meter is in poetry.
Nicolas PoussinRead
With photography, I like to create a fiction out of reality. I try and do this by taking society's natural prejudice and giving this a twist.
Martin ParrRead
If you're writing a song, you have to write something that can be understood serially. When you're reading a poem that's written for the page, your eye can skip up and down. You can see the thing whole. But you're not going to see the thing whole in the song. You're going to hear it in series, and you can't skip back.
James FentonRead
My dear sister! I’m amazed to discover that you can compose so delightfully. In a word, your Lied is beautiful. You must compose more often.
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartRead