--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the…" description: "\"Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the mind so that it is in accord with what happens.\" — John Cage" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/john-cage-2094_accord_art-s-purpose-is-to-sober-and-quiet-the_230484.png" --- # Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the mind so that it is… ![“Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the mind so that it is in accord with what happens.” quote by John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/john-cage-2094_accord_art-s-purpose-is-to-sober-and-quiet-the_230484.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/john-cage-2094_accord_art-s-purpose-is-to-sober-and-quiet-the_230484.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/john-cage-2094_accord_art-s-purpose-is-to-sober-and-quiet-the_230484.png) > “Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the mind so that it is in accord with what happens.” [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art should calm the mind, aligning perception with reality through simplicity. **In simple terms:** Art quiets the mind. Key Takeaway Seek simplicity in creative expression. Themes creativity mindfulness clarity Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - meditation - design - education Key Concepts aesthetic minimalism psychology of perception Questions to Reflect On - What does “quiet” mean to you? - How can art provoke without agitation? A Different Perspective Quieting the mind may limit emotional depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Quiet Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quiet-mind/) [Sober](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sober/) ## Related quotes > [The purpose of music is to sober and quiet the mind, thus making it susceptible to divine influences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/the-purpose-of-music-is-to-sober-and-quiet-the-mind-thus-making-it/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [The program of A.A., as written by Bill Wilson and Dr. Smith, only has one purpose: to get you sober. That's it. To make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cheever/the-program-of-a-a-as-written-by-bill-wilson-and-dr-smith-only-has/) [Susan Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cheever/) > [Why make art ? To quiet the mind thus making it susceptible to divine influences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/why-make-art-to-quiet-the-mind-thus-making-it-susceptible-to-divine/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [My position is that serious and good art has always existed to help, to serve, humanity. Not to indict. I don't see how art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/my-position-is-that-serious-and-good-art-has-always-existed-to-help/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [If art has a purpose, it is to interpret life, reproduce it in fresh visions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-drinker-bowen/if-art-has-a-purpose-it-is-to-interpret-life-reproduce-it-in-fresh/) [Catherine Drinker Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-drinker-bowen/) > [Sleepless nights in the studio. Work hard to make art that has a purpose. My voice will be heard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sleepless-nights-in-the-studio-work-hard-to-make-art-that-has-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've started a project called Planet Art. The purpose will be to remind people where I really believe we came from, which was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/i-ve-started-a-project-called-planet-art-the-purpose-will-be-to/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [Art has no purpose. It exists for its own sake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-scher/art-has-no-purpose-it-exists-for-its-own-sake/) [Paula Scher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-scher/) > [In abstract mathematics or abstract art, the purpose is to describe inner states of our mind, and to explore the limits of our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anjan-sundaram/in-abstract-mathematics-or-abstract-art-the-purpose-is-to-describe/) [Anjan Sundaram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anjan-sundaram/) > [Don't give your opinions about Art and the Purpose of Life. They are of little interest and, anyway, you can't express them. Don't analyze…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/don-t-give-your-opinions-about-art-and-the-purpose-of-life-they-are/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [Design always has a purpose, art has no purpose. That's really the difference between them. Do I think one is better than the other?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-scher/design-always-has-a-purpose-art-has-no-purpose-that-s-really-the/) [Paula Scher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-scher/) > [Simplicity, clarity, singleness: These are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and joy as they are also the marks of great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holloway/simplicity-clarity-singleness-these-are-the-attributes-that-give-our/) [Richard Holloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holloway/) > [“Art has one purpose, that is to leave you changed. Love has one purpose, that is to create art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julieanne-o-connor/art-has-one-purpose-that-is-to-leave-you-changed-love-has-one-purpose/) [Julieanne O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julieanne-o-connor/) > [We are not moving towards some kind of goal. We are at the goal, and it is changing with us. If art has any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-gormley/we-are-not-moving-towards-some-kind-of-goal-we-are-at-the-goal-and-it/) [Antony Gormley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-gormley/) > [Some people flinch when you talk about art in the context of the needs of society thinking you are introducing something far too common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/some-people-flinch-when-you-talk-about-art-in-the-context-of-the/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) ## More by John Cage > [If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/if-something-is-boring-after-two-minutes-try-it-for-four-if-still/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [ It was at Harvard not quite forty years ago that I went into an anechoic \[totally silent\] chamber not expecting in that silent room… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/it-was-at-harvard-not-quite-forty-years-ago-that-i-went-into-an/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [So somebody has talent? So what? Dime a dozen. And we're overpopulated. Actually we have more food than we have people and more art.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/so-somebody-has-talent-so-what-dime-a-dozen-and-we-re-overpopulated/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [“...the important questions are answered by not liking only but disliking and accepting equally what one likes and dislikes. Otherwise there is no access…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/the-important-questions-are-answered-by-not-liking-only-but-disliking/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [The material of music is sound and silence. Integrating these is composing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/the-material-of-music-is-sound-and-silence-integrating-these-is/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [There is poetry as soon as we realize that we possess nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/there-is-poetry-as-soon-as-we-realize-that-we-possess-nothing/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [To see, one must go beyond the imiagination and for that one must stand absolutely still as though at the center of a leap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/to-see-one-must-go-beyond-the-imiagination-and-for-that-one-must/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Value judgments are destructive to our proper business, which is curiosity and awareness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/value-judgments-are-destructive-to-our-proper-business-which-is/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Our intention is to affirm this life, not to bring order out of chaos, nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply to wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/our-intention-is-to-affirm-this-life-not-to-bring-order-out-of-chaos/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [There are some good people in it, but the orchestra as a whole is equivalent to a gang bent on destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/there-are-some-good-people-in-it-but-the-orchestra-as-a-whole-is/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [People who aren't artists often feel that artists are inspired. But if you work at your art you don't have time to be inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/people-who-aren-t-artists-often-feel-that-artists-are-inspired-but-if/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [“Farting, don't think, just fart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/farting-don-t-think-just-fart/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Not one sound fears the silence that extinguishes it. And no silence exists that is not pregnant with sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/not-one-sound-fears-the-silence-that-extinguishes-it-and-no-silence/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [My work became an exploration of non-intention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/my-work-became-an-exploration-of-non-intention/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [As McLuhan says, everything happens at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/as-mcluhan-says-everything-happens-at-once/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) [Explore all 186 John Cage quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) ## More Accord quotes > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. Next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crimp/to-an-ever-greater-extent-out-experience-is-governed-by-pictures/) [Douglas Crimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crimp/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Christian obligation cannot be made to accord with a law of expediency. The Christian's maxims are, Do right because you are bound to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-landey-patton/christian-obligation-cannot-be-made-to-accord-with-a-law-of/) Francis Landey Patton > [I've never had a very quiet voice. I tried in choir to make it smaller, and it just didn't work out. And I listened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ditto/i-ve-never-had-a-very-quiet-voice-i-tried-in-choir-to-make-it-smaller/) [Beth Ditto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ditto/) > [It is a very high mind to which gratitude is not a painful sensation. If you wish to please, you will find it wiser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/it-is-a-very-high-mind-to-which-gratitude-is-not-a-painful-sensation/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [To act choicelessly is to act in accord with the situation. If someone throws a rock, you duck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rami-m-shapiro/to-act-choicelessly-is-to-act-in-accord-with-the-situation-if-someone/) [Rami M. Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rami-m-shapiro/) > [“I'm not here to grant you the extraordinary love you never had for yourself. I'm here, on my own accord, to love you. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/i-m-not-here-to-grant-you-the-extraordinary-love-you-never-had-for/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [It is a misfortune that necessity has induced men to accord greater license to this formidable engine, in order to obtain liberty, than can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-f-cooper/it-is-a-misfortune-that-necessity-has-induced-men-to-accord-greater/) [James F. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-f-cooper/) > [Life is a cutup. And to pretend that you write or paint in a timeless vacuum is just simply . . . not .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/life-is-a-cutup-and-to-pretend-that-you-write-or-paint-in-a-timeless/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [The dominant propaganda systems have appropriated the term "globalization" to refer to the specific version of international economic integration that they favor, which privileges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-dominant-propaganda-systems-have-appropriated-the-term/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/if-you-want-to-accord-with-the-tao-just-do-your-job-then-let-go/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [The fineness which a hymn or psalm affords / If when the soul unto the lines accords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/the-fineness-which-a-hymn-or-psalm-affords-if-when-the-soul-unto-the/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [A covenant is an agreement between God and man, an accord whose terms are set by God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-todd-christofferson/a-covenant-is-an-agreement-between-god-and-man-an-accord-whose-terms/) [D. Todd Christofferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-todd-christofferson/) > [All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/all-day-i-think-about-it-then-at-night-i-say-it-where-did-i-come-from/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. 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