Quotes about music page 9
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
1920s, Viereck interview (1929)
“Patrick actually used to be popular before Sam bought him some good music.”
Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
“Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord.”
Plutarch (46–127) ancient Greek historian and philosopher
Megan McCafferty (1973) American novelist
Source: Charmed Thirds
“Food is music to the body, music is food to the heart.”
Gregory David Roberts (1952) Australian writer and bank robber
Joe Hill (1879–1915) Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World
Source: NOS4A2
“I want to live like music sounds."- Ruth”
Eva Ibbotson book The Morning Gift
Source: The Morning Gift
“There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.”
T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) 20th century English author
“Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music: — Do I wake or sleep?”
John Keats Ode to a Nightingale
Stanza 8
Poems (1820), Ode to a Nightingale
“Music clouds the intellect but clarifies the heart.”
Edward Abbey (1927–1989) American author and essayist
Source: A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Vox Clamantis in Deserto): Notes from a Secret Journal
“What passion cannot Music raise and quell?”
John Dryden (1631–1700) English poet and playwright of the XVIIth century
St. 2. <br class="br"> A Song for St. Cecilia's Day http://www.englishverse.com/poems/a_song_for_st_cecilias_day_1687 (1687) <br class="br">Variant: What passion cannot Music raise and quell?
Ingmar Bergman (1918–2007) Swedish filmmaker
"Introduction" of Four Screenplays (1960). <!-- Simon & Schuster -->
Context: When we experience a film, we consciously prime ourselves for illusion. Putting aside will and intellect, we make way for it in our imagination. The sequence of pictures plays directly on our feelings. Music works in the same fashion; I would say that there is no art form that has so much in common with film as music. Both affect our emotions directly, not via the intellect. And film is mainly rhythm; it is inhalation and exhalation in continuous sequence. Ever since childhood, music has been my great source of recreation and stimulation, and I often experience a film or play musically.
“I have Van Gogh's ear for music”
Stephen Fry (1957) English comedian, actor, writer, presenter, and activist
“Smells, like music, hold memories. She breathed deep, and bottled it up for posterity.”
Arundhati Roy book The God of Small Things
Source: The God of Small Things
Irène Némirovsky (1903–1942) French novelist who died at the age of 39 in Auschwitz
Source: Suite Française
“The only good thing ever to come out of religion was the music.”
George Carlin (1937–2008) American stand-up comedian
“We turn to stories and pictures and music because they show us who and what and why we are.”
Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer
Keith Richards (1943) British rock musician, member of The Rolling Stones
Source: According to the Rolling Stones
“She plays music to heal herself, but nothing can heal her brokenness.”
Neal Shusterman (1962) American novelist
Source: UnWholly
Jon Stewart (1962) American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian
Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer
Source: What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire
“For me, music and life are all about style.”
Miles Davis (1926–1991) American jazz musician
Miles, the Autobiography (1989) (co-written with Quincy Troupe, p. 398.)
1980s
“Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering.”
Haruki Murakami book Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Source: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
“Life seems to go on without effort when I am filled with music.”
George Eliot book The Mill on the Floss
Source: The Mill on the Floss
“Music can change the world because it can change people.”
Bono (1960) Irish rock musician, singer of U2
“The music in his laughter had a way of rounding off the missing notes in her soul.”
Gloria Naylor (1950–2016) American writer
Source: Linden Hills
“There is music in words, and it can be heard you know, by thinking.”
E.L. Doctorow book Homer & Langley
Source: Homer & Langley
Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist
Source: The Portable Dorothy Parker
“music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all, but
you are the music
While the music lasts.”
T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) 20th century English author
Source: Collected Poems, 1909-1962
“but it's so hard to dance that way when it's cold and there's no music.”
Tom Waits (1949) American singer-songwriter and actor
“Music is well said to be the speech of angels.”
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher
The Opera (1852).
1820s, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827–1855)
“Music sounds different to the one who plays it. It is the musician's curse.”
Patrick Rothfuss (1973) American fantasy writer
Jimi Hendrix (1942–1970) American musician, singer and songwriter
Variant: Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.
“The iPod completely changed the way people approach music.”
Karl Lagerfeld (1933–2019) German fashion designer
“Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.”
Steve Martin (1945) American actor, comedian, musician, author, playwright, and producer
William Wordsworth book Lyrical Ballads
Stanza 3.
Source: Lyrical Ballads (1798–1800), Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey (1798), Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey
Context: That time is past,
And all its aching joys are now no more,
And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this
Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur, other gifts
Have followed; for such loss, I would believe,
Abundant recompence. For I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
The still, sad music of humanity,
Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
To chasten and subdue. And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still
A lover of the meadows and the woods,
And mountains; and of all that we behold
From this green earth; of all the mighty world
Of eye, and ear,—both what they half create,
And what perceive; well pleased to recognise
In nature and the language of the sense,
The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,
The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul
Of all my moral being.
“Music does not replace words, it gives tone to the words”
Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor
“I tell you such fine music waits in the shadows of hell.”
Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer
Source: The Last Night of the Earth Poems
