“Those who dance appear insane to those who cannot hear the music.”
Misattributed
First recorded appearance: Germaine de Staël's On Germany (1813). ". . . sometimes even in the habitual course of life, the reality of this world disappears all at once, and we feel ourselves in the middle of its interests as we should at a ball, where we did not hear the music; the dancing that we saw there would appear insane." There are several other pre-Nietzsche examples, indicating that the phrase was widespread in the nineteenth-century; it was referred to in 1927 as an "old proverb".
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Friedrich Nietzsche 655
German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and cl… 1844–1900Related quotes
“Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor.”
A Father's Story.
Selected Stories (1995)
“See the music, hear the dance.”
“There are none so blind as those who see angels…None so deaf as those who hear gods.”
Source: Only Begotten Daughter (1990), Chapter 17 (p. 288)
“Those who drown out the good singing –
there's many more of them
than those who want to hear it.”
Die daz rehte singen stoerent,
der ist ungelîche mêre
danne die ez gerne hoerent.
"Owê, hovelîchez singen", line 17; translation from Frederick Goldin German and Italian Lyrics of the Middle Ages (New York: Anchor, 1973) p. 127.
“Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming”
In Defense of Dissents, 37 Hastings L. J. 427, 428 (1985-1986).
“The earth has its music for those who will listen.”
Often misattributed to Shakespeare, because the words remind us of “If music be the food of love play on”. Statement is also commonly associated with Santayana, but no source or attribution can be found in his works or correspondence.
Variant: The earth has music for those who listen.
Source: Book Fireside Fancies, Poem The Magic of Sound. 1955.
Context: I've heard the soft whisper of wind in the pine trees,
The silvery ripple of brooklets at play;
I've heard the low voice of a sweet singing mother
As she sang to her child at the end of the day.
I've heard the faint rustle of sails in the sunset
And blue waves caressing the wild, rockbound shore;
The whistle of trains as they cross the green prairie
And mountains re-echo the cataract’s roar.
The notes of the organs in ancient cathedrals,
Where hearts of the faithful are lifted in song;
I've heard the gay laughter as children were playing,
The chatter and buzz of a large, happy throng.
The earth has its music for those who will listen;
Its bright variations forever abound.
With all of the wonders that God has bequeathed us,
There's nothing that thrills like the magic of sound.