--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You're the kind of child who might…" description: "\"“You're the kind of child who might develop a passion for Bach.\" I told him I hadn't at school. The one Bach piece I learnt made me feel I was being re..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/668/dodie-smith-1724_bach_you-re-the-kind-of-child-who-might-devel_178915.png" --- # You're the kind of child who might develop a passion for… ![“You're the kind of child who might develop a passion for Bach." I told him I hadn't at school. The one Bach piece I learnt made me feel I was being repeatedly hit on the head with a teaspoon.” quote by Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/668/dodie-smith-1724_bach_you-re-the-kind-of-child-who-might-devel_178915.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/668/dodie-smith-1724_bach_you-re-the-kind-of-child-who-might-devel_178915.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/668/dodie-smith-1724_bach_you-re-the-kind-of-child-who-might-devel_178915.png) > ““You're the kind of child who might develop a passion for Bach." I told him I hadn't at school. The one Bach piece I learnt made me feel I was being repeatedly hit on the head with a teaspoon.”” [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A child’s early music lessons felt overwhelming, likened to a relentless, tiny assault, highlighting frustration with forced learning. **In simple terms:** Early music lessons felt like a tiny, relentless assault. Key Takeaway Find joy in learning rather than endure. Themes education frustration music childhood Mood irritated reflective thoughtful Type educational humorous critical When to use this quote - music class - home practice - school curriculum - parental guidance Key Concepts pedagogy cognitive development creative expression Questions to Reflect On - What makes learning feel oppressive? - How can educators make challenging subjects engaging? A Different Perspective Forced instruction can stifle curiosity and enjoyment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) ## Related quotes > [The one Bach piece I learnt made me feel I was being repeatedly hit on the head with a teaspoon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/the-one-bach-piece-i-learnt-made-me-feel-i-was-being-repeatedly-hit/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“But I can't see how anyone could believe that you killed the bear with a pitchfork,' I said. 'I didn't. I only wounded it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/but-i-can-t-see-how-anyone-could-believe-that-you-killed-the-bear/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“... And they are like a drug, one needs them oftener and oftener and has to make them more and more exciting - until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/and-they-are-like-a-drug-one-needs-them-oftener-and-oftener-and-has/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [Wakings are the worst times--almost before my eyes are open a great weight seems to roll on my heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/wakings-are-the-worst-times-almost-before-my-eyes-are-open-a-great/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“I don't want to miss anything. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/i-don-t-want-to-miss-anything/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [I used to listen to a lot of Bach on the radio, and when the basses started to sing, it made everything complete -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-haden/i-used-to-listen-to-a-lot-of-bach-on-the-radio-and-when-the-basses/) [Charlie Haden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-haden/) > [In Bach there is still too much crude Christianity, crude Germanism, crude scholasticism; he stands on the threshold of European (modern) music, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-bach-there-is-still-too-much-crude-christianity-crude-germanism/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The author's conviction on this day of New Year is that music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-author-s-conviction-on-this-day-of-new-year-is-that-music-begins/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [“The way we define opera circa 1700 may help us to throw light not just on the choices facing Bach and his brilliant peer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/the-way-we-define-opera-circa-1700-may-help-us-to-throw-light-not/) [John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/) > [Bernard Herrmann used to write all his scores by himself. So did Bach, Beethoven and Stravinsky. I dont understand why this happens in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ennio-morricone/bernard-herrmann-used-to-write-all-his-scores-by-himself-so-did-bach/) [Ennio Morricone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ennio-morricone/) > [Whenever you study composition you inevitably encounter Bach right off the bat. You can't get across the room without running into him and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-roberts/whenever-you-study-composition-you-inevitably-encounter-bach-right/) [Howard Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-roberts/) > [I began to realize that some of the things Ornette Coleman had said about things being played three or fours ways, independently of each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-began-to-realize-that-some-of-the-things-ornette-coleman-had-said/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [Yes, I mean like you know, having studied with Yehudi Menuhin that is like some direct route into Bach, because he was one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/yes-i-mean-like-you-know-having-studied-with-yehudi-menuhin-that-is/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [I listen to Bach a great deal. In general I like to listen to hymns and liturgical music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-listen-to-bach-a-great-deal-in-general-i-like-to-listen-to-hymns/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Do you know what he told me after lying under a cliff for thirty six hours with two inches of his femur sticking out?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/do-you-know-what-he-told-me-after-lying-under-a-cliff-for-thirty-six/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) ## More by Dodie Smith > [“I glanced through another page in case I had missed something, and came to the description of Simon's face as he lay on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/i-glanced-through-another-page-in-case-i-had-missed-something-and/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [They call them the haunted shores, these stretches of Devonshire and Cornwall and Ireland which rear up against the westward ocean. Mists gather here,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/they-call-them-the-haunted-shores-these-stretches-of-devonshire-and/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“Now, paper and pencils," said Miss Marcy, clapping her hands. Writing paper is scarce in this house, and I had no intention of tearing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/now-paper-and-pencils-said-miss-marcy-clapping-her-hands-writing/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [It's odd how different a house feels when one is alone in it. It makes it easier to think rather private thoughts...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/it-s-odd-how-different-a-house-feels-when-one-is-alone-in-it-it-makes/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [The tea was a comfort - and by that time I more than needed comfort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/the-tea-was-a-comfort-and-by-that-time-i-more-than-needed-comfort/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [Like many other much-loved humans, they believed that they owned their dogs, instead of realizing that their dogs owned them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/like-many-other-much-loved-humans-they-believed-that-they-owned-their/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“And I suspect that, to the eyes of love, love shows. I knew about you as well as about myself, almost from the beginning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/and-i-suspect-that-to-the-eyes-of-love-love-shows-i-knew-about-you-as/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“The thought was horrible, yet fascinating.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/the-thought-was-horrible-yet-fascinating/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“What I'd really hate would be the settled feeling, with nothing but happiness to look forward to. Of course no life is perfectly happy-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/what-i-d-really-hate-would-be-the-settled-feeling-with-nothing-but/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [Truthfulness so often goes with ruthlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/truthfulness-so-often-goes-with-ruthlessness/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [Am I really admitting that my sister is determined to marry a man she has only seen once and doesn't much like the look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/am-i-really-admitting-that-my-sister-is-determined-to-marry-a-man-she/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“There are some people who always find beauty makes them feel sadder, which is a very mysterious thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/there-are-some-people-who-always-find-beauty-makes-them-feel-sadder/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [When things mean a very great deal to you, exciting anticipation just isn't safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/when-things-mean-a-very-great-deal-to-you-exciting-anticipation-just/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [I could marry the Devil himself if he had some money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/i-could-marry-the-devil-himself-if-he-had-some-money/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“... then we danced the tune through again, without saying one word - indeed, we never spoke all the time we were dancing. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/then-we-danced-the-tune-through-again-without-saying-one-word-indeed/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) [Explore all 211 Dodie Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) ## More Bach quotes > [“Do you know what he told me after lying under a cliff for thirty six hours with two inches of his femur sticking out?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/do-you-know-what-he-told-me-after-lying-under-a-cliff-for-thirty-six/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [I listen to Bach a great deal. In general I like to listen to hymns and liturgical music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-listen-to-bach-a-great-deal-in-general-i-like-to-listen-to-hymns/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Yes, I mean like you know, having studied with Yehudi Menuhin that is like some direct route into Bach, because he was one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/yes-i-mean-like-you-know-having-studied-with-yehudi-menuhin-that-is/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [I began to realize that some of the things Ornette Coleman had said about things being played three or fours ways, independently of each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-began-to-realize-that-some-of-the-things-ornette-coleman-had-said/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [Whenever you study composition you inevitably encounter Bach right off the bat. You can't get across the room without running into him and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-roberts/whenever-you-study-composition-you-inevitably-encounter-bach-right/) [Howard Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-roberts/) > [Bernard Herrmann used to write all his scores by himself. So did Bach, Beethoven and Stravinsky. I dont understand why this happens in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ennio-morricone/bernard-herrmann-used-to-write-all-his-scores-by-himself-so-did-bach/) [Ennio Morricone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ennio-morricone/) > [“The way we define opera circa 1700 may help us to throw light not just on the choices facing Bach and his brilliant peer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/the-way-we-define-opera-circa-1700-may-help-us-to-throw-light-not/) [John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/) > [The author's conviction on this day of New Year is that music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-author-s-conviction-on-this-day-of-new-year-is-that-music-begins/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [In Bach there is still too much crude Christianity, crude Germanism, crude scholasticism; he stands on the threshold of European (modern) music, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-bach-there-is-still-too-much-crude-christianity-crude-germanism/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I used to listen to a lot of Bach on the radio, and when the basses started to sing, it made everything complete -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-haden/i-used-to-listen-to-a-lot-of-bach-on-the-radio-and-when-the-basses/) [Charlie Haden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-haden/) > [The music of Bach is without doubt the most sacred gift to the world of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heitor-villa-lobos/the-music-of-bach-is-without-doubt-the-most-sacred-gift-to-the-world/) Heitor Villa-Lobos > [“To wake up one day and be Steinway and Glen in One... Glen Steinway, Steinway Glen, all for Bach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/to-wake-up-one-day-and-be-steinway-and-glen-in-one-glen-steinway/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johann-sebastian-bach-into-outer/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“You'll have a good, secure life when being alive means more to you than security, love more than money, your freedom more than public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/you-ll-have-a-good-secure-life-when-being-alive-means-more-to-you/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“BACH! A colossal syllable, one which makes composers tremble, brings performers to their knees, beatifies the Bach-lover, and apparently bores the daylights out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-elie/bach-a-colossal-syllable-one-which-makes-composers-tremble-brings/) [Paul Elie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-elie/) Browse all 199 Bach quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You're the kind of child who might develop a passion for Bach.\" I told him I hadn't at school. 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