It is better to make a piece of music than to perform one, better to perform one than to listen to one, better to listen to one than to misuse it as a means of distraction, entertainment, or acquisition of "culture."
John Cage

Ideas are one thing and what happens is another.
John Cage

I have nothing to say, I am saying it, and that is poetry.
John Cage

The highest purpose is to have no purpose at all. This puts one in accord with nature, in her manner of operation.
John Cage

There is poetry as soon as we realize that we possess nothing.
John Cage

I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.
John Cage

We are involved in a life that passes understanding and our highest business is our daily life.
John Cage

There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot.
John Cage