Orson Welles & John Cage
Here are quotations from two masters: Orson Welles–talented filmmaker; John Cage–pioneer musician
Orson Welles:
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.
Gluttony is not a secret vice.
I hate television. I hate it as much as I hate peanuts. But I can’t stop eating peanuts.
I passionately hate the idea of being with it, I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.
My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.
Now we sit through Shakespeare in order to recognize the quotations.
John Cage:
I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.
If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. You begin to refuse sounds that are not musical and that way cut yourself off from a good deal of experience.
The first question I ask myself when something doesn’t seem to be beautiful is why do I think it’s not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.
