Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,161,747 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Music
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“The greatest blessing that one can get from music is that it makes an artist immensely satisfied with life irrespective of the financial condition in which they may be.”
Ram Narayan (1927–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By and large the present day Indian film music lacks soulful melody, sublime spirit and compelling charm of its lyrical intensity and has nothing Hindustani in it.”
Ram Narayan (1927–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A scientist, an artist, a citizen is not like a child who needs papa methodology and mama rationality to give him security and direction, he can take care of himself, for he is the inventor not only of laws, theories, pictures, plays, forms of music, ways of dealing with his fellow man, institutions, but also entire world view, he is the inventor of entire forms of like.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Human paint, produce films and videos; they dance, dream and make music; they engage in political action, exchange goods, perform rituals, build houses start wars, act in plays, try to please patrons- and so on... They contain patterns, press the practitioners to "conform" and in this way mold their thought, their perception, their actions, and their discriminative abilities.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now to fit in on the Seattle scene You had to show people something that they'd never seen So thinkin' up a gimmick one day We decided to be the only band that wouldn't play a note Under any circumstance We called it silence... Music's original alternative Root's grunge”
Todd Snider (1966–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All noblest things are religious,— not temples and martyrdoms only, but the best books, pictures, poetry, statues, and music.”
William Mountford (1816–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A man is entitled to only one great passion in a lifetime. Whether it’s music or a profession or a woman, everything else pales in its afterglow. The searing shock so changes one’s chemistry that if the object is lost, the experience can never be repeated. Only anticlimax remains.”
Jack McDevitt (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Temporal was the first recording that captured my true guitar sound (dinosaurs slipping and blocks of wire whittled with a feather). The mood of the world was different and yet music (sculpted time) always is there waiting to be manifested.”
Shawn Lane (1963–2003) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: http://bardorecords.com/Bardo136.htm Press site for the album Temporal Analogues of Paradise (1995)
“I’ve no regrets in my personal and professional life. Being a spiritual person, I believe whatever happens, happens for the good. I simply follow what dad says, ‘With music, you can reach out and spread happiness.’”
Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We live, and move, and have our being in a consumer cosmos. The global economy and interconnection of markets and resources means every time we eat a meal, listen to music, put on clothing, or read a book, we are being consumers.”
Skye Jethani (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Einstein said that "the most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious." So why do so many of us try to explain the beauty of music, thus depriving it of its mystery?”
Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Unanswered Question (1976)
“Last time, I asked: "What does mathematics mean to you?" And some people answered: "The manipulations of numbers, the manipulation of structures." And if I had asked what music means to you, would you have answered: "The manipulation of notes?”
Serge Lang (1927–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I feel that music is the art which can best express the emotions which flow within us. It conveys something bigger than it is.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I find a lot of club music extremely boring.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One of the issues these days is the sheer amount of music out there to be listened to. There are more bands than one could ever hope to explore.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Connexion Bizarre interview, 2007
“Once you have a basic grasp of the theories underlying music, you can pretty much pick up any instrument you want.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As with any collaboration, you have to find someone that's in your 'mode' of making music.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm not a big fan of asynchronicity just for its own sake - a lot of people push rhythmic variation so far that the basic pulse of the music gets lost (and the listener is confused).”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I was obsessed with making money off of my music, I wouldn't have released it for free on the internet for the last 5 years.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every musician, I guess, wants to alter the world to his or her taste in some fashion... That's part of why I write music.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I try to avoid categorizing music as much as I can, though. Everyone steals so much from everyone else these days, the lines between genres are very washed-out.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'd like to see people try to sample the sound less and try to sample the style a bit more. Some people see this sort of 'copying' as offensive... I'm inclined to think the opposite - all music is built on imitation and expansion.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Music is nothing but ratios and harmonic math, anyways.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You could argue that there's maybe some mathematical interest in a Bach fugue, say, but the only thing that music does really well is "move" people -- make them feel something.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If someone only ever listens to, say, Nickelback, their opinion [about music taste] is valid but largely meaningless since they don't bring any depth to the discussion :)”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Imagine presenting a Nirvana or BT track to someone from the 1850's, they would probably see it as noise and not much else. Society as a whole has a much more nuanced and wide view of what music can be now. It still usually contains various rhythmic, melodic, and vocal components, but they can be combined in so many interesting ways now.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The usual problem with progressive rock is that the band can get so wrapped up in their own fantasy land that their music becomes completely inaccessible. "Wanky", if you will.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have a love for cheesy music. I don't want to list any bands and embarrass myself ;D”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If someone gave me a million dollars to run a music label, I would focus on creating a specific artistic point of view, and creating some channel to build a fanbase. Warp Records was a great example of a label that had a particular style, and many people would buy records just because the artists were associated with the label.”
Andrew Sega (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Reviewing music has to be the hardest, most pointless job since Twinkletoe-Winkletoe Ffiennes walked to the North Pole wearing nothing but a dressing gown and slippers. Or something. Imagine, please, being instructed to write about the latest All Saints album. You'd listen, hate it, and say so. And a week later, all the 14-year-olds who took it to number one would burn your house down.”
Jeremy Clarkson (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Lord but I dislike poetry. How can anyone remember words that aren’t put to music?”
Patrick Rothfuss (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My parents danced together, her head on his chest. Both had their eyes closed. They seemed so perfectly content. If you can find someone like that, someone who you can hold and close your eyes to the world with, then you’re lucky. Even if it only lasts for a minute or a day. The image of them gently swaying to the music is how I picture love in my mind even after all these years.”
Patrick Rothfuss (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The goals, methods, and strategies of what borders on science is different from the gyration of fashion and the incommensurability of arts and music in different epochs. Because this different process of cumulative science is imperfect, historians and philosophers of science intermittently downplay this difference.”
Paul Samuelson (1915–2009) first seen 1988 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Keeping Whig History Honest", History of Economics Society Bulletin, 10(2), 161-167, 1988.
“This sad reality, To know it couldn't be, That's Portugal and love in April! The music and the wine convinced me you were mine, But it was just the spring fooling me.”
Jimmy Kennedy (1902–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Above all, I feel that the sounds of this world are so beautiful in themselves that if only we could listen to them properly, cinema would have no need for music at all.”
Andrei Tarkovsky (1932–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A literary work can only be received through symbols, through concepts — for that is what words are; but cinema, like music, allows for utterly direct, emotional, sensuous perception of the work.”
Andrei Tarkovsky (1932–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That's the reason I always say about music, the blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits. Without the roots, you have no fruits so it's better keeping the roots alive because it means better fruits from now on.”
Willie Dixon (1915–1992) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I am the Blues: the Willie Dixon Story (with Don Snowden, 1990), p. 4.
“Jerry Springer: Please meet GG Allin. GG has been arrested more than 52 times in over 12 states for the nudity, obscenity and violence that are part of his music performances. He says the fans love the thrill of coming to his show knowing that their lives are in danger.”
GG Allin (1956–1993) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: GG Allin on The Jerry Springer Show, May 5. 1993. Documentary watched March 1, 2010.
“If he doesn’t want to skate to music that’s pretty and wear a pretty costume, then go rollerblade or skateboard or do one of those extreme sports.”
Johnny Weir (born 1984) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's the spirit of Dominicans coming out and the pride that we have in our music and our baseball players. Dominicans love two things: politics and baseball. When we're not talking politics, we're talking baseball.”
Jose Peralta (1971–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A world that is faithless would not be without the arts, either. Those don’t rest on faith, so imaginative art, literature, and music would still be with us. Too, we would retain justice, law, and compassion, perhaps in even greater measure than now, for our judgment wouldn’t be warped by adherence to unevidenced divine strictures.”
Jerry Coyne (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not governed by the senseless world of current style that pervades and pollutes popular music, nor is it part of an established hierarchy, so that it is cloistered and protected.”
John Dankworth (1927–2010) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Of jazz. Jazz in Revolution (1998).
“Jazz today can be spiritual, cerebral, motivating or moving. It can evoke tension, relaxation, laughter, tears. Surely jazz is truly the music of the era, combining stature, dignity and emotion with the highest musical ideals.”
John Dankworth (1927–2010) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jazz in Revolution (1998), concluding words.
“Wally George: How do you describe your music? El Duce: Well, it's rape rock.”
Eldon Hoke (1958–1997) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Mentors on Hot seat, 1992.
“Wally George: Tell me what is your band all about? I mean what is The Mentors all about? El Duce: Well, I'll tell you son. It's like this, boy. We're heterosexuals. We wanna create more heterosexual music for the rest of the world. We're tired of sissie groups like Mötley Crüe and all this sissy stuff. We want rape rock!”
Eldon Hoke (1958–1997) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Mentors on Hot seat, 1992.
“Freedom of Speech is Freedom of Music.”
Sun Ra (1914–1993) first seen 1966 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Neglected Plane of Wisdom" (1966), p. 250
“Out there in the spotlight you're a million miles away. Every ounce of energy you try to give away. As the sweat pours out your body like the music that you play. Later in the evening, as you lie awake in bed. With the echoes from the amplifiers ringin' in your head. You smoke the day's last cigarette, rememberin' what she said.”
“Well, my friends, the time has come To raise the roof and have some fun. Throw away the work to be done. Let the music play on.”
Lionel Richie (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Urban Literate Southern California Sub-Group of the Early Atomic Period has not yet produced a distinct body of folk music of its own.”
Sam Hinton (1917–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The distance between folk society and literate society is ever decreasing, and Teresa Brewer will yet shake hands with Mrs. Texas Gladden. But until that happens—until my own culture, and Teresa Brewer's, develops a folk tradition of its own—If I want to learn something about real folk music, I'll stick with Mrs. Gladden.”
Sam Hinton (1917–2009) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Last Words", Journal of American Folklore 71, (Jan–Mar 1958), p. 75