Nothing is accomplished by writing a piece of music nothing is accomplished by hearing a piece of music nothing is accomplished by playing a piece of music our ears are now in excellent condition.

— John Cage

Only chance to make the world a success for humanity lies in technology, grand possibility technology provides to do more with less, and indiscriminately for everyone. Return to nature as nature pre-technologically was, attractive and possible as it still in some places is, can only work for some of us.

— John Cage

Power and profit structures're out of cahoots with current technology. Aware of new inventions, corporations put them aside, waiting for competitive reasons until they're obliged to use new gimmicks.

— John Cage

Put 'em who threaten possessions and power together with 'em who offend our tastes in sex and dope. Those who're touched, put 'em in asylums. Pack off old ones to 'senior communities,' nursing homes. Our children? Keep'em prisoner, babysitter as warden. School? Good for fifteen to twenty years. Army afterward. Liberated, we live in prison. No, this, no that. Kill us before we die!

— John Cage

Remove God from the world of ideas. Remove government, politics from society. Keep sex, humor, utilities. Let private property go.

— John Cage

Sleep's what we need. It produces an emptiness in us into which sooner or later energies flow.

— John Cage

So somebody has talent? So what? Dime a dozen. And we're overpopulated. Actually we have more food than we have people and more art. We've gotten to the point of burning food. When will we begin to burn our art?

— John Cage

Theatre takes place all the time wherever one is and art simply facilitates persuading one this is the case.

— John Cage

The emotions - love, mirth, the heroic, wonder, tranquility, fear, anger, sorrow, disgust - are in the audience.

— 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