--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A symphony must be like the world. It…" description: "\"A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.\" — Gustav Mahler" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/gustav-mahler-9935_contain_a-symphony-must-be-like-the-world-it-mus_2635113.jpg" --- # A symphony must be like the world. It must contain… ![“A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.” quote by Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/gustav-mahler-9935_contain_a-symphony-must-be-like-the-world-it-mus_2635113.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/gustav-mahler-9935_contain_a-symphony-must-be-like-the-world-it-mus_2635113.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/gustav-mahler-9935_contain_a-symphony-must-be-like-the-world-it-mus_2635113.jpg) > “A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.” [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A symphony should reflect the totality of existence, encompassing diverse elements and emotions. **In simple terms:** Music should capture all of life. Key Takeaway Compose works that embrace broad human experience. Themes creativity universality artistic ambition Mood reflective inspired Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - concert programming - film scoring - cultural festivals - educational curricula Key Concepts musical narrative holistic expression Questions to Reflect On - How can a composer ensure unity amid diversity? - What aspects of life are hardest to represent in music? A Different Perspective Balancing cohesion with vast scope can dilute focus. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contain/) [Like World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-world/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Symphony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/symphony/) [Symphony Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/symphony-like-1424408/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Contain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-contain-2222416/) ## Related quotes > [If a young man at the age of twenty-three can write a symphony like that, in five years he will be ready to commit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-damrosch/if-a-young-man-at-the-age-of-twenty-three-can-write-a-symphony-like/) [Walter Damrosch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-damrosch/) > [A Mozart symphony is very much like a Pixar movie - in the sense that Pixar movies are hugely successful because they operate on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/a-mozart-symphony-is-very-much-like-a-pixar-movie-in-the-sense-that/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) > [“When a man, filled with a mixture of reverence and bewilderment, asks, “What on earth does this all mean?”, a child will answer him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/when-a-man-filled-with-a-mixture-of-reverence-and-bewilderment-asks/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [To write a symphony is, for me, to construct a world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/to-write-a-symphony-is-for-me-to-construct-a-world/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [Everybody is different. Some writers can write reams of great books and then J. D. Salinger wrote just a few. Beethoven wrote nine symphonies.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-joel/everybody-is-different-some-writers-can-write-reams-of-great-books/) [Billy Joel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-joel/) > [“At breakfast, I might pass a Brahms symphony in my head. Then I am called to the phone, and half an hour later I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rubinstein/at-breakfast-i-might-pass-a-brahms-symphony-in-my-head-then-i-am/) [Arthur Rubinstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rubinstein/) > [“Like everything else in the world, it is one man's work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/like-everything-else-in-the-world-it-is-one-man-s-work/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [“It felt like there was a whole world inside her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/it-felt-like-there-was-a-whole-world-inside-her/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) > [Sometimes you feel like the whole world is against you...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-you-feel-like-the-whole-world-is-against-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My whole thing is there is nobody else like you in this whole world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-mixon/my-whole-thing-is-there-is-nobody-else-like-you-in-this-whole-world/) [Katy Mixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-mixon/) > [Get a grip on yourself. there's only one god here on earth, and that's you. If you don't like the world, make one you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/get-a-grip-on-yourself-there-s-only-one-god-here-on-earth-and-that-s/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [Lifes A Gamble Get in where you fit in Either LOVE Me Or HATE Me LOVE Your HATERS IT'S My WORLD Like it's Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tisha-woods/lifes-a-gamble-get-in-where-you-fit-in-either-love-me-or-hate-me-love/) [Tisha Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tisha-woods/) > [I love music because you can create a world through your records. I have total control over what I do and what I wear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-badler/i-love-music-because-you-can-create-a-world-through-your-records-i/) [Jane Badler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-badler/) > [I feel like there's a world of possibilities out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-feel-like-there-s-a-world-of-possibilities-out-there/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Sing like your on top of the World. Cry like you have never done before. And breathe like your never do it again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tania-gardana/sing-like-your-on-top-of-the-world-cry-like-you-have-never-done/) [Tania Gardana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tania-gardana/) ## More by Gustav Mahler > [It is always the same with me; only when I experience something do I compose, and only when composing do I experience! After all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/it-is-always-the-same-with-me-only-when-i-experience-something-do-i/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [God can only be comprehended as Love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/god-can-only-be-comprehended-as-love/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [All that is not perfect down to the smallest detail is doomed to perish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/all-that-is-not-perfect-down-to-the-smallest-detail-is-doomed-to/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [A true personality . . . is like a robust organism that, with unconscious sureness, seeks out and digests the nourishment appropriate to it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/a-true-personality-is-like-a-robust-organism-that-with-unconscious/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [My time will come, that is: after the finish of the recurring song cycles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/my-time-will-come-that-is-after-the-finish-of-the-recurring-song/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [Only when I experience do I compose - only when I compose do I experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/only-when-i-experience-do-i-compose-only-when-i-compose-do-i/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [I am thrice homeless, as a bohemian, as an Austrian, and all over the world, you guessed it right I am Jewish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/i-am-thrice-homeless-as-a-bohemian-as-an-austrian-and-all-over-the/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [I am thrice homeless, as a native of Bohemia in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew throughout the world. Everywhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/i-am-thrice-homeless-as-a-native-of-bohemia-in-austria-as-an-austrian/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [It should be one’s sole endeavor to see everything afresh and create it anew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/it-should-be-one-s-sole-endeavor-to-see-everything-afresh-and-create/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [It is easier to achieve a desired result in short pieces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/it-is-easier-to-achieve-a-desired-result-in-short-pieces/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [For the last month I have been a strict vegetarian. The moral effects of this regime are immense, owing to the voluntary subjugation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/for-the-last-month-i-have-been-a-strict-vegetarian-the-moral-effects/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [Both my marriages were failures! Number one departed, and number two stayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/both-my-marriages-were-failures-number-one-departed-and-number-two/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [I live like a Hottentot. I cannot exchange one sensible word with anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/i-live-like-a-hottentot-i-cannot-exchange-one-sensible-word-with/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [I beg of you... never assume an inner or an outer pose, never a disguise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/i-beg-of-you-never-assume-an-inner-or-an-outer-pose-never-a-disguise/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [Fortunately, something always remains to be harvested. So let us not be idle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/fortunately-something-always-remains-to-be-harvested-so-let-us-not-be/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) [Explore all 69 Gustav Mahler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) ## More Contain quotes > [Electricity transmission operates on a frequency between 49.7 Hertz and 50.2 Hertz. 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I know that men ain't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-charles/i-suppose-i-ve-always-done-my-share-of-crying-especially-when-there-s/) [Ray Charles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-charles/) > [A family is too frail a vessel to contain the risks of all the warring impulses expressed when such a group meets on common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/a-family-is-too-frail-a-vessel-to-contain-the-risks-of-all-the/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [I am large, I contain multitudes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/i-am-large-i-contain-multitudes/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [You see teams buy a lot of batsmen for a lot of money because they are good batsmen. But you also need good bowlers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhuvneshwar-kumar/you-see-teams-buy-a-lot-of-batsmen-for-a-lot-of-money-because-they/) [Bhuvneshwar Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhuvneshwar-kumar/) > [If we can contain and monitor animal viruses at an earlier stage - when they're first entering human populations, preferably before they've had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-wolfe/if-we-can-contain-and-monitor-animal-viruses-at-an-earlier-stage-when/) [Nathan Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-wolfe/) > [Emotions aren't just mindless urges; they contain thoughts about matters of importance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-nussbaum/emotions-aren-t-just-mindless-urges-they-contain-thoughts-about/) [Martha Nussbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-nussbaum/) > [I tried to contain myself... but I escaped!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-paulsen/i-tried-to-contain-myself-but-i-escaped/) [Gary Paulsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-paulsen/) > [The human diet, for millions of years, did not contain any added salt - only the sodium present in natural foods, adding up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-fuhrman/the-human-diet-for-millions-of-years-did-not-contain-any-added-salt/) [Joel Fuhrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-fuhrman/) > [Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, and is present in most e-cigarettes. 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