--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In an utter emptiness anything can take…" description: "\"In an utter emptiness anything can take place.\" — John Cage" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4a/john-cage-2094_emptiness_in-an-utter-emptiness-anything-can-take_857954.png" --- # In an utter emptiness anything can take place. ![“In an utter emptiness anything can take place.” quote by John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4a/john-cage-2094_emptiness_in-an-utter-emptiness-anything-can-take_857954.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4a/john-cage-2094_emptiness_in-an-utter-emptiness-anything-can-take_857954.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4a/john-cage-2094_emptiness_in-an-utter-emptiness-anything-can-take_857954.png) > “In an utter emptiness anything can take place.” [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. Empty space allows any event or idea to emerge, emphasizing potential in absence. **In simple terms:** Empty space invites possibilities. Key Takeaway Embrace emptiness to foster creativity. Themes creativity possibility potential Mood contemplative inspiring Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - artistic brainstorming - meditation - problem solving - innovation Key Concepts existentialism open space Questions to Reflect On - How can you use emptiness constructively? - What limits arise from too much openness? A Different Perspective Without structure, chaos can dominate, limiting productive outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Emptiness Place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness-place-819678/) [Place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/place/) [Utter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utter/) [Utter Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utter-emptiness-819677/) ## Related quotes > [We do not pray for immortality, but only not to see our acts and all things stripped suddenly of all their meaning; for then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/we-do-not-pray-for-immortality-but-only-not-to-see-our-acts-and-all/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [“There is a dreadful emptiness in the spiritual fatherhood. No power, no success, no popularity, no easy satisfaction. But that same dreadful emptiness is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-j-m-nouwen/there-is-a-dreadful-emptiness-in-the-spiritual-fatherhood-no-power-no/) [Henri J.M. Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-j-m-nouwen/) > [“If anything could prove the existence of the soul, he thought, it was the utter emptiness of a corpse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-doria-russell/if-anything-could-prove-the-existence-of-the-soul-he-thought-it-was/) [Mary Doria Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-doria-russell/) > [“I am afraid of waking up to emptiness, to a place where my friends and family are gone and I am nothing but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-aveyard/i-am-afraid-of-waking-up-to-emptiness-to-a-place-where-my-friends-and/) [Victoria Aveyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-aveyard/) > [“Freedom from likes and dislikes, the sudden sense of identification, the spirit of comedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/freedom-from-likes-and-dislikes-the-sudden-sense-of-identification/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [The paleo diet is utter nonsense - it is such pseudoscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-roberts/the-paleo-diet-is-utter-nonsense-it-is-such-pseudoscience/) [Alice Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-roberts/) > [It's a little difficult when something goes from being an utter obsession - a thing where your skill defines you as a person -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-chazelle/it-s-a-little-difficult-when-something-goes-from-being-an-utter/) [Damien Chazelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-chazelle/) > [A seventeenth-century house can be recognized by its steep roof, massive central chimney and utter porchlessness. 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They are now recognising people automatically from photos;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitfield-diffie/we-have-experienced-an-utter-explosion-in-investigative-techniques/) [Whitfield Diffie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitfield-diffie/) > [The fact that an icon would even utter my name or have any idea of who I am is absolutely unreal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-wagner/the-fact-that-an-icon-would-even-utter-my-name-or-have-any-idea-of/) [Ashley Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-wagner/) > [Music is 10% exhilaration and 90% utter disappointment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barrow/music-is-10-exhilaration-and-90-utter-disappointment/) [John Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barrow/) > [I've never really suffered complete and utter writer's block, really. I equate it with sex: in the beginning of my career, I was writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loudon-wainwright-iii/i-ve-never-really-suffered-complete-and-utter-writer-s-block-really-i/) [Loudon Wainwright III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loudon-wainwright-iii/) > [Being asked to play 'The Doctor' is an amazing privilege. Like the Doctor himself I find myself in a state of utter terror and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-capaldi/being-asked-to-play-the-doctor-is-an-amazing-privilege-like-the/) [Peter Capaldi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-capaldi/) > [We explore our environment, more than we are compelled to utter poetry, when we're toddlers. We start doing that later. Before that happens, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/we-explore-our-environment-more-than-we-are-compelled-to-utter-poetry/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## 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/) > [Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the mind so that it is in accord with what happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/art-s-purpose-is-to-sober-and-quiet-the-mind-so-that-it-is-in-accord/) [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/) [Explore all 186 John Cage quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) ## More Emptiness quotes > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/go-into-emptiness-strike-voids-bypass-what-he-defends-hit-him-where/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“those of little merit would not even have doubts about this doctrine of emptiness. even suspicion that objects are empty wrecks the seeds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aryadeva/those-of-little-merit-would-not-even-have-doubts-about-this-doctrine/) [aryadeva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aryadeva/) > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I close my eyes and I let my body shut itself down and I let my mind wander. It wanders to a familiar place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-close-my-eyes-and-i-let-my-body-shut-itself-down-and-i-let-my-mind/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Only the thirsty knows the real taste of water; only the lonely knows the real weight of emptiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/only-the-thirsty-knows-the-real-taste-of-water-only-the-lonely-knows/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [What I was trying to convey there was the kind of waste land that was left after the war. It was a bit like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-martin/what-i-was-trying-to-convey-there-was-the-kind-of-waste-land-that-was/) [George Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-martin/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/but-what-was-there-to-say-only-that-there-were-tears-only-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I got this emptiness inside that got me fighting for approval because I missed out on my daddy saying, Way to Go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/i-got-this-emptiness-inside-that-got-me-fighting-for-approval-because/) [Lecrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [“As we see it, space is possible only when the primordial Being swallows emptiness. Space is born when the Being accepts emptiness, the Nonbeing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/as-we-see-it-space-is-possible-only-when-the-primordial-being/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) [Browse all 1,374 Emptiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In an utter emptiness anything can take place.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Cage" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/in-an-utter-emptiness-anything-can-take-place/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Emptiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/in-an-utter-emptiness-anything-can-take-place/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4a/john-cage-2094_emptiness_in-an-utter-emptiness-anything-can-take_857954.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4a/john-cage-2094_emptiness_in-an-utter-emptiness-anything-can-take_857954.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4a/john-cage-2094_emptiness_in-an-utter-emptiness-anything-can-take_857954.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In an utter emptiness anything can take place.” — John Cage", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Cage", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In an utter emptiness anything can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/in-an-utter-emptiness-anything-can-take-place/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/in-an-utter-emptiness-anything-can-take-place/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```