“If music be the food of love, play on.” – William Shakespeare. Music is a universal language that speaks to the soul and expresses what words alone can’t. From iconic musicians to celebrated philosophers, many have attempted to capture its essence in words. Here’s a collection (in no way exhaustive) of 40 quotes about music.
“Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” – Leopold Stokowski
“To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.” – Ludwig van Beethoven
“Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand.” – Stevie Wonder
“I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood.” – Ray Charles
“The true beauty of music is that it connects people. It carries a message, and we, the musicians, are the messengers.” – Roy Ayers
“A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” – Leopold Stokowski
“Music can change the world because it can change people.” – Bono
“Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.” – Pablo Casals
“Songwriting is a very mysterious process. It feels like creating something from nothing. It’s something I don’t feel like I really control.” – Tracy Chapman
“Music is the shorthand of emotion.” – Leo Tolstoy
“Songs are life in 80 words or less.” – Neil Diamond
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” – Victor Hugo
“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.” – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“If music be the food of love, play on.” – William Shakespeare
“Music happens to be an art form that transcends language.” – Herbie Hancock
“A song doesn’t try to be a song, it just is.” – Jack White
“A great song should lift your heart, warm the soul and make you feel good.” – Colbie Caillat
“Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence.” – Robert Fripp
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” – Maya Angelou
“It’s not where you take things from — it’s where you take them to.” – Jean-Luc Godard
“Music is the strongest form of magic.” – Marilyn Manson
“Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.” – Ludwig van Beethoven
“Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.” – Lao Tzu
“A song is anything that can walk by itself.” – Bob Dylan
“Music is the moonlight in the gloomy night of life.” – Jean Paul Friedrich Richter
“Where words leave off, music begins.” – Heinrich Heine
“Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can’t.” – Johnny Depp
“To be a musician is a curse. To NOT be one is even worse.” – Jack Geller
“The easiest way to avoid wrong notes is to never open your mouth and sing. What a mistake that would be!” – Pete Seeger
“Music makes one feel so romantic – at least it always gets on one’s nerves – which is the same thing nowadays.” – Oscar Wilde
“Music is the only thing I’ve ever known that doesn’t have any rules at all.” – Josh Homme
“I see my life in terms of music.” – Albert Einstein
“A day without music is a lost day.” – Joseph Goebbels
“Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends.” – Alphonse de Lamartine
“Songwriting is my way of channeling my feelings and my thoughts. Not just mine, but the things I see, the people I care about.” – Taylor Swift
“There’s a certain groove you pick that makes the music flow, and when you have it it’s in your pocket. It’s the feeling behind the rhythm… to me, the hardest thing to strive for is that feeling, behind the groove.” – John Bonham
“In music the passions enjoy themselves.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“Music is the universal language of mankind.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“All the sounds of the earth are like music.” – Oscar Hammerstein
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