For I have learned
To look on the 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 of sublime
Of something far more deeply infused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the minds of man:
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All living 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 they perceive, will be pleased to recognize
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.
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Poet
She was one of those people who said “I don’t know anything about music, but I know what I like.”
—Max Beerbohm (1872–1956) British Essayist, Caricaturist, Novelist
It is a wise tune that knows its own father, and I like my music to be the legitimate offspring of respectable parents.
—Samuel Butler
A verbal art like poetry is reflective; it stops to think. Music is immediate, it goes on to become.
—W. H. Auden (1907–73) British-born American Poet, Dramatist
Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
There is something very wonderful about music. Words are wonderful enough; but music is even more wonderful. It speaks not to our thoughts as words do; it speaks through our hearts and spirits, to the very core and root of our souls. Music soothes us, stirs us up, it puts noble feelings in us, it can make us cringe; and it can melt us to tears; and yet we have no idea how. It is a language by itself, just as perfect in its ways as speech, as words, just as divine, just as blessed.
—Charles Kingsley (1819–75) English Clergyman, Academic, Historian, Novelist
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
Yea, music is the prophet’s art; among the gifts that God hath sent, one of the most magnificent.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
We love music for the buried hopes, the garnered memories, the tender feelings it can summon at a touch.
—Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–38) English Poet, Novelist
I believe that traditional wisdom is incomplete. A composer can have all the talent of Mozart and a passionate desire to succeed, but if he believes he cannot compose music, he will come to nothing. He will not try hard enough. He will give up too soon when the elusive right melody takes too long to materialize.
—Martin Seligman (b.1942) American Psychologist, Author
When music and courtesy are better understood and appreciated, there will be no war
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Cherish your visions. Cherish your ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
Music is God’s gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to Heaven.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end.
—Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) Russian-born American Composer, Musician
Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
You don’t need any brains to listen to music.
—Luciano Pavarotti (1935–2007) Italian Operatic Tenor
Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Music is the fourth great material want of our nature,—first food, then raiment, then shelter, then music.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
Music resembles poetry; in each are numerous graces which no methods teach, and which a master hand alone can reach.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
Where words fail, music speaks.
—Hans Christian Andersen (1805–75) Danish Author, Poet, Short Story Writer
I have always kept one end in view, namely … to conduct a well-regulated church music to the honour of God.
—Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) German Composer, Musician
Music, of all the liberal arts, has the greatest influence over the passions, and is that to which the legislator ought to give the greatest encouragement.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Music is a beautiful opiate, if you don’t take it too seriously.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
I am always writing a potpourri of music. I want to give the world escapism through the wonder of great music and to reach the masses.
—Michael Jackson (1958–2009) American Singer-Songwriter
Music fills the infinite between two souls.
—Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali Poet, Polymath
Alas! all music jars when the soul’s out of tune.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
Truly fertile Music, the only kind that will move us, that we shall truly appreciate, will be a Music conducive to Dream, which banishes all reason and analysis. One must not wish first to understand and then to feel. Art does not tolerate Reason.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Of course the music is a great difficulty. You see, if one plays good music, people don’t listen, and if one plays bad music people don’t talk.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Mozart has the classic purity of light and the blue ocean; Beethoven the romantic grandeur which belongs to the storms of air and sea, and while the soul of Mozart seems to dwell on the ethereal peaks of Olympus, that of Beethoven climbs shuddering the storm-beaten sides of a Sinai. Blessed be they both! Each represents a moment of the ideal life, each does us good. Our love is due to both.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
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