--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's a book of interviews with John…" description: "\"There's a book of interviews with John Cage by Joan Retallack called Musicage that was finished the summer that he died, in 1992. And in one of the las..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06b/david-grubbs-27090_book_there-s-a-book-of-interviews-with-john-c_2062295.jpg" --- # There's a book of interviews with John Cage by Joan… ![“There's a book of interviews with John Cage by Joan Retallack called Musicage that was finished the summer that he died, in 1992. And in one of the last interviews, he was very excited to talk about nanotechnology. There's real technophilia from him, a kind of utopian embrace of the idea that…” quote by David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06b/david-grubbs-27090_book_there-s-a-book-of-interviews-with-john-c_2062295.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06b/david-grubbs-27090_book_there-s-a-book-of-interviews-with-john-c_2062295.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06b/david-grubbs-27090_book_there-s-a-book-of-interviews-with-john-c_2062295.jpg) > “There's a book of interviews with John Cage by Joan Retallack called Musicage that was finished the summer that he died, in 1992. And in one of the last interviews, he was very excited to talk about nanotechnology. There's real technophilia from him, a kind of utopian embrace of the idea that nanotechnology will free people up to do what they really want to do.” [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cage showed enthusiasm for nanotech, seeing it as a liberating force for personal fulfillment. **In simple terms:** Cage liked nanotech for freedom. Key Takeaway Embrace emerging tech for personal freedom. Themes technology optimism freedom Mood hopeful curious Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - artistic creation - personal development - future studies Key Concepts nanotechnology utopianism Questions to Reflect On - How can nanotech empower individuals responsibly? - What safeguards are needed? A Different Perspective Cage’s view may overlook societal risks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Embrace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embrace/) [Excited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excited/) [Free people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-people/) [Idea Nanotechnology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea-nanotechnology-3940698/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/john-cage/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Nanotechnology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nanotechnology/) [Nanotechnology Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nanotechnology-real-3940697/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Summer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summer/) [Talk Nanotechnology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talk-nanotechnology-3940696/) [Utopian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utopian/) ## Related quotes > [I found myself thinking about the distance between the 60s and today through certain moments. Like the Henry Flynt interview with Ubuweb founder Kenny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/i-found-myself-thinking-about-the-distance-between-the-60s-and-today/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [I recall improvisational drummer and composer Michael Evans telling me a story of someone who had the opportunity to meet Cage and give him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/i-recall-improvisational-drummer-and-composer-michael-evans-telling/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [When I read John Cage's book Silence, I was growing up in Louisville, Kentucky. For me, records were a mode of time travel and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/when-i-read-john-cage-s-book-silence-i-was-growing-up-in-louisville/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [Likewise nanotechnology will, once it gets under way, depend on the tools we have then and our ability to use them, and not on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-eric-drexler/likewise-nanotechnology-will-once-it-gets-under-way-depend-on-the/) [K. Eric Drexler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-eric-drexler/) > [Nanotechnology has been moving a little faster than I expected, virtual reality a little slower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-bostrom/nanotechnology-has-been-moving-a-little-faster-than-i-expected/) [Nick Bostrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-bostrom/) > [We have the means right now to live long enough to live forever. Existing knowledge can be aggressively applied to dramatically slow down aging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kurzweil/we-have-the-means-right-now-to-live-long-enough-to-live-forever/) [Ray Kurzweil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kurzweil/) > [Nanotechnology will let us build computers that are incredibly powerful. We'll have more power in the volume of a sugar cube than exists in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-merkle/nanotechnology-will-let-us-build-computers-that-are-incredibly/) [Ralph Merkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-merkle/) > [Nanotechnology in medicine is going to have a major impact on the survival of the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-marcus/nanotechnology-in-medicine-is-going-to-have-a-major-impact-on-the/) [Bernard Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-marcus/) > [No amount of outer technology, no amount of computers and biotechnology and nanotechnology is going to stop the continuation of warfare and racism and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/no-amount-of-outer-technology-no-amount-of-computers-and/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [Nanotechnology is manufacturing with atoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-powell/nanotechnology-is-manufacturing-with-atoms/) [William Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-powell/) > [“Hackworth took a bite of his sandwich, correctly anticipating that the meat would be gristly and that he would have plenty of time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/hackworth-took-a-bite-of-his-sandwich-correctly-anticipating-that-the/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [I think dry nanotechnology is probably a dead-end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-rucker/i-think-dry-nanotechnology-is-probably-a-dead-end/) [Rudy Rucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-rucker/) > [“The new Pandora's boxes of genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics are almost open, yet we seem hardly to have noticed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-joy/the-new-pandora-s-boxes-of-genetics-nanotechnology-and-robotics-are/) [Bill Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-joy/) > [The aliens on this planet are also attempting to clone or replicate the human form artificially. Their original form, being humanoid, cannot pass the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tsarion/the-aliens-on-this-planet-are-also-attempting-to-clone-or-replicate/) [Michael Tsarion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tsarion/) > [People don't want to believe that technology is broken. Pharmaceuticals, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology - all these areas where the progress has been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/people-don-t-want-to-believe-that-technology-is-broken/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) ## More by David Grubbs > [My experience that undergirds that observation comes from punk, where people might have scraped together the money to be in the studio for an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/my-experience-that-undergirds-that-observation-comes-from-punk-where/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [I recall improvisational drummer and composer Michael Evans telling me a story of someone who had the opportunity to meet Cage and give him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/i-recall-improvisational-drummer-and-composer-michael-evans-telling/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [For me, it's good to have those dissimilar modes of songwriting sit side-by-side on a record, because they yield such different results.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/for-me-it-s-good-to-have-those-dissimilar-modes-of-songwriting-sit/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [The danger of these collaborations across disciplines is in having too strict of a division of labor - in my case, of getting stuck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-danger-of-these-collaborations-across-disciplines-is-in-having/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [What a strange thing - that musicians grant permission to places like Ubuweb, and then because it's free, it'll probably be listened to more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/what-a-strange-thing-that-musicians-grant-permission-to-places-like/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [If the records that I make have one thing in common, it's that there is little recapitulation, and the idea is that it should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/if-the-records-that-i-make-have-one-thing-in-common-it-s-that-there/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [In eighteenth-century England, there was a practice of hiring a picturesque hermit who would inhabit the beautiful ruin on your estate. To me it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/in-eighteenth-century-england-there-was-a-practice-of-hiring-a/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [The word 'archive' seems so reassuring, but I have a lot ofconcern over the longevity of documentary materials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but-i-have-a-lot-ofconcern-over/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [I don't write poetry for the page because my inclination in that area is satisfied by songwriting. "Ornamental Hermit" was a comparatively effortless song…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/i-don-t-write-poetry-for-the-page-because-my-inclination-in-that-area/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [The instrumental pieces are compositions, certainly, although that's not the language that I instinctively use. They're not scored, and arrangements are often arrived at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-instrumental-pieces-are-compositions-certainly-although-that-s/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [When I read John Cage's book Silence, I was growing up in Louisville, Kentucky. For me, records were a mode of time travel and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/when-i-read-john-cage-s-book-silence-i-was-growing-up-in-louisville/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [The word "archive" seems so reassuring, but I'm not sure about these things that are now being called archives. Is anything lost by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but-i-m-not-sure-about-these/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [As there are more online archives of improvised music, it becomes more like the daily practice of playing it. It lessens the idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/as-there-are-more-online-archives-of-improvised-music-it-becomes-more/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [Chance in music doesn't have to involve the I Ching or rolling dice or throwing yarrow stalks. It can involve an out-of-tune guitar, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/chance-in-music-doesn-t-have-to-involve-the-i-ching-or-rolling-dice/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [Otherwise the history just gets completely flattened out, and people imagine that everything was always available and accessible. One of the things that struck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/otherwise-the-history-just-gets-completely-flattened-out-and-people/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) [Explore all 21 David Grubbs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's a book of interviews with John Cage by Joan Retallack called Musicage that was finished the summer that he died, in 1992. 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