--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The meaning and purpose of dancing is the…" description: "\"The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance. Like music also, it is fulfilled in each moment of its course. You do not play a sonata in order to re..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f65/alan-watts-587_chords_the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-th_313196.jpg" --- # The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance. Like… ![“The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance. Like music also, it is fulfilled in each moment of its course. You do not play a sonata in order to reach the final chord, and if the meaning of things were simply in ends, composers would write nothing but finales.” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f65/alan-watts-587_chords_the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-th_313196.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f65/alan-watts-587_chords_the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-th_313196.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f65/alan-watts-587_chords_the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-th_313196.jpg) > “The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance. Like music also, it is fulfilled in each moment of its course. You do not play a sonata in order to reach the final chord, and if the meaning of things were simply in ends, composers would write nothing but finales.” [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The purpose of dance is the dance itself; fulfillment is found in each present moment, not in a distant goal. **In simple terms:** Dance is its own purpose, lived moment by moment. Key Takeaway Live fully in the present. Themes presence fulfillment art mindfulness Mood contemplative peaceful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - dance practice - music performance - creative work - daily mindfulness Key Concepts existentialism process philosophy aesthetic experience Questions to Reflect On - How does focusing on the present change your experience? - What does it mean to find purpose in the act itself? A Different Perspective If you focus on outcomes, you may miss the richness of the process. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Composer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/composer/) [Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dance/) [Dancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dancing/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Sonatas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sonatas/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [ “\[Life\] is a dance, and when you are dancing, you are not intent on getting somewhere. The meaning and purpose of dancing is the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-burkeman/life-is-a-dance-and-when-you-are-dancing-you-are-not-intent-on/) [Oliver Burkeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-burkeman/) > [The real reason why human life can be so utterly exasperating and frustrating is not because there are facts called death, pain, fear, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-real-reason-why-human-life-can-be-so-utterly-exasperating-and/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [When people start dancing, they dance like they don't know they are doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nusrat-fateh-ali-khan/when-people-start-dancing-they-dance-like-they-don-t-know-they-are/) [Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nusrat-fateh-ali-khan/) > [The purpose of dancing isn't to end up at a particular spot on the floor. The purpose of dancing and of life is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-purpose-of-dancing-isn-t-to-end-up-at-a-particular-spot-on-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've been dancing since I was five. To me, dance is a visual representation of being free and empowered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aditi-rao-hydari/i-ve-been-dancing-since-i-was-five-to-me-dance-is-a-visual/) [Aditi Rao Hydari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aditi-rao-hydari/) > [Exactly the same with dancing, you can't dance until you've learnt steps, the things your feet can do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ninette-de-valois/exactly-the-same-with-dancing-you-can-t-dance-until-you-ve-learnt/) [Ninette de Valois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ninette-de-valois/) > [“When faced with dancing or not, always dance,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-hale/when-faced-with-dancing-or-not-always-dance/) [Jenny Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-hale/) > [No one imagines that a symphony is supposed to improve as it goes along, or that the whole object of playing is to reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/no-one-imagines-that-a-symphony-is-supposed-to-improve-as-it-goes/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [I'm not too keen on dancing, I can't dance too well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konkona-sen-sharma/i-m-not-too-keen-on-dancing-i-can-t-dance-too-well/) [Konkona Sen Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konkona-sen-sharma/) > [I love dancing, and I dance for my own happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sai-pallavi/i-love-dancing-and-i-dance-for-my-own-happiness/) [Sai Pallavi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sai-pallavi/) > [Shakespeare wrote his sonnets within a strict discipline, fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, rhyming in three quatrains and a couplet. Were his sonnets dull?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogilvy/shakespeare-wrote-his-sonnets-within-a-strict-discipline-fourteen/) [David Ogilvy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogilvy/) > [Tokyo Sonata speaks to us, with feeling and passion, as one of the most eloquent statements on the world today that we are likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sarris/tokyo-sonata-speaks-to-us-with-feeling-and-passion-as-one-of-the-most/) [Andrew Sarris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sarris/) > [There is a moonlight note in the Moonlight Sonata; there is a thunder note in an angry sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/there-is-a-moonlight-note-in-the-moonlight-sonata-there-is-a-thunder/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [My 10th Sonata is a sonata of insects. Insects are born from the sun... they are the sun's kisses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-scriabin/my-10th-sonata-is-a-sonata-of-insects-insects-are-born-from-the-sun/) Alexander Scriabin > [“But that some sonatas of Beethoven are written tragic no one can gainsay; yet they can triumph or despair as the player decides, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/but-that-some-sonatas-of-beethoven-are-written-tragic-no-one-can/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) ## More by Alan Watts > [“The self-conscious feedback mechanism of the cortex allows us the hallucination that we are two souls in one body -a rational soul and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-self-conscious-feedback-mechanism-of-the-cortex-allows-us-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it becomes. It is like trying to clutch water in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-more-we-try-to-catch-hold-of-the-present-moment-the-more-elusive/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The Universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-universe-is-the-game-of-the-self-which-plays-hide-and-seek/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Everything is perpetually becoming new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/everything-is-perpetually-becoming-new/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The psychotherapist ... tries to help the individual to be himself and to go it alone without giving unnecessary offense to his community, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-psychotherapist-tries-to-help-the-individual-to-be-himself-and-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“As you make more and more powerful microscopic instruments, the universe has to get smaller and smaller in order to escape the investigation. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/as-you-make-more-and-more-powerful-microscopic-instruments-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [A philosopher is a sort of intellectual yokel who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/a-philosopher-is-a-sort-of-intellectual-yokel-who-gawks-at-things/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The best way to convince someone is by making him realize that what you speak came from his own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-best-way-to-convince-someone-is-by-making-him-realize-that-what/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-myths-underlying-our-culture-and-underlying-our-common-sense-have/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [To feel that life is meaningless unless “I” can be permanent is like having fallen desperately in love with an inch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/to-feel-that-life-is-meaningless-unless-i-can-be-permanent-is-like/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) [Explore all 460 Alan Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More Chords quotes > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [Every time I finish a song... most of the time it's in my own head, like this sounds too much like a Townes Van…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/every-time-i-finish-a-song-most-of-the-time-it-s-in-my-own-head-like/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [So I concentrated on the rhythmic side of things, and therefore left a lot of holes. I didn't want to use big pad chords…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/midge-ure/so-i-concentrated-on-the-rhythmic-side-of-things-and-therefore-left-a/) [Midge Ure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/midge-ure/) > [Talk health. The dreary, never-changing tale Of mortal maladies is worn and stale. You cannot charm, or interest, or please By harping in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/talk-health-the-dreary-never-changing-tale-of-mortal-maladies-is-worn/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [There's four chords in every song. That's the fun part - trying to make that your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-rodrigo/there-s-four-chords-in-every-song-that-s-the-fun-part-trying-to-make/) [Olivia Rodrigo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-rodrigo/) > [Pete Townsend for me was a huge influence. Because essentially they were a three-piece band and the way he structured his chords and took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-lifeson/pete-townsend-for-me-was-a-huge-influence-because-essentially-they/) [Alex Lifeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-lifeson/) > [“Wild Horses" started in a B-minor chord, and Stu didn't play minor chords, "fucking Chinese music.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-richards/wild-horses-started-in-a-b-minor-chord-and-stu-didn-t-play-minor/) [Keith Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-richards/) > [I learned to play by ear before I learned music theory. For me, that makes sense. After all, children learn to speak before they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jools-holland/i-learned-to-play-by-ear-before-i-learned-music-theory-for-me-that/) [Jools Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jools-holland/) > [My course is about really working on a sheet of music. You work out the chords, which note complements the other, and how they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catriona-gray/my-course-is-about-really-working-on-a-sheet-of-music-you-work-out/) [Catriona Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catriona-gray/) > [I don't write poetry and then strum some chords and then fit the words on top of the chords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bird/i-don-t-write-poetry-and-then-strum-some-chords-and-then-fit-the/) [Andrew Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bird/) > [I always think of each night as a song. Or each moment as a song. But now I'm seeing we don't live in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-always-think-of-each-night-as-a-song-or-each-moment-as-a-song-but/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [It's a double-headed coin, because technology is a convenience but it's stifled our attention spans. At one time, albums had songs that were like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cee-lo-green/it-s-a-double-headed-coin-because-technology-is-a-convenience-but-it/) [Cee Lo Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cee-lo-green/) > [I don't want to discredit people's opinions of me, but you talk about the violin or the cello or lead guitar where you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-raitt/i-don-t-want-to-discredit-people-s-opinions-of-me-but-you-talk-about/) [Bonnie Raitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-raitt/) > [There are no rules or certain methods. I usually start with the guitar or piano and sing melodies over the chords. The lyrics seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-reeves/there-are-no-rules-or-certain-methods-i-usually-start-with-the-guitar/) [Jason Reeves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-reeves/) > [I like really sparse electronics, lush arrangements, and interesting chord structures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-klinghoffer/i-like-really-sparse-electronics-lush-arrangements-and-interesting/) [Josh Klinghoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-klinghoffer/) Browse all 544 Chords quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance. Like music also, it is fulfilled in each moment of its course. You do not play a sonata in order to reach the final chord, and if the meaning of things were simply in ends, composers would write nothing but finales.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Watts" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-the-dance-like-music-also-it-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chords" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-the-dance-like-music-also-it-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f65/alan-watts-587_chords_the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-th_313196.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f65/alan-watts-587_chords_the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-th_313196.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f65/alan-watts-587_chords_the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-th_313196.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance. Like music also, it is fulfilled in each moment of its…” — Alan Watts", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Watts", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The meaning and purpose of dancing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-the-dance-like-music-also-it-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-the-dance-like-music-also-it-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```