Music Quote by Ford Madox Ford
““You can't kill a minuet de la coeur. You may shut up the music book... but surely the minuet-- the minuet itself is dancing itself away into the furthest stars, even as our minuet of the Hessian bathing places must be stepping itself still. Isn't there any heaven where old beautiful dances, old beautiful intimacies prolong themselves? Isn't there any Nirvana pervaded by the vain thrilling of instruments that have fallen into the dust of wormwood but that yet had frail, tremulous, and everlasting souls?””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Good Soldier, 1915
Poetically laments loss of beauty and intimacy, yearning for timeless art beyond decay.
In simple terms: Long for lasting beauty in art.
Seek enduring artistic expression.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- creative work
- personal reflection
- cultural criticism
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What does “minuet” symbolize?
- Can art truly be eternal?
Art cannot fully escape decay.