--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What I'm proposing, to myself and other…" description: "\"What I'm proposing, to myself and other people, is what I often call the tourist attitude - that you act as though you've never been there before. So t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/john-cage-2094_attitude_what-i-m-proposing-to-myself-and-other-p_2113730.jpg" --- # What I'm proposing, to myself and other people, is what I… ![“What I'm proposing, to myself and other people, is what I often call the tourist attitude - that you act as though you've never been there before. So that you're not supposed to know anything about it. If you really get down to brass tacks, we have never been anywhere before.” quote by John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/john-cage-2094_attitude_what-i-m-proposing-to-myself-and-other-p_2113730.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/john-cage-2094_attitude_what-i-m-proposing-to-myself-and-other-p_2113730.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/john-cage-2094_attitude_what-i-m-proposing-to-myself-and-other-p_2113730.jpg) > “What I'm proposing, to myself and other people, is what I often call the tourist attitude - that you act as though you've never been there before. So that you're not supposed to know anything about it. If you really get down to brass tacks, we have never been anywhere before.” [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. Approach each experience with fresh curiosity, as if encountering it for the first time, to avoid assumptions and discover new possibilities. **In simple terms:** Stay curious, like a tourist. Key Takeaway Embrace each moment as new. Themes creativity open‑mindedness learning mindfulness Mood inquisitive philosophical Type philosophy creative practice When to use this quote - artistic practice - travel - education - innovation Key Concepts first‑time perception novelty seeking experiential learning Questions to Reflect On - How does a “tourist attitude” affect mastery? - When is familiarity beneficial? A Different Perspective Constant novelty can be exhausting and hinder depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude/) [Brass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brass/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Tourist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-tourist-4279804/) [Tourist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tourist/) [Tourist Attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tourist-attitude-4279803/) [Tourists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tourists/) [Ve Supposed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ve-supposed-3155962/) ## Related quotes > [The goal in life is to discover that you’ve always been where you were supposed to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-goal-in-life-is-to-discover-that-you-ve-always-been-where-you/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [The tourist travels in his own atmosphere like a snail in his shell and stands, as it were, on his own perambulating doorstep to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-tourist-travels-in-his-own-atmosphere-like-a-snail-in-his-shell/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [I don't look down on tourism. I live in Hawaii where we have 7 million visitors a year. If they weren't there, there would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/i-don-t-look-down-on-tourism-i-live-in-hawaii-where-we-have-7-million/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [The tourist transports his own values and demands to his destinations and implants them like an infectious disease, decimating whatever values existed before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-erickson/the-tourist-transports-his-own-values-and-demands-to-his-destinations/) [Arthur Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-erickson/) > [To be a tourist is to escape accountability. Errors and failings don't cling to you the way they do back home. You're able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/to-be-a-tourist-is-to-escape-accountability-errors-and-failings-don-t/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [When is the last time you were a tourist?” she asked archly. He just looked at her. Charles, she had to agree, was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/when-is-the-last-time-you-were-a-tourist-she-asked-archly-he-just/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [The tourist debauches the great monuments of antiquity, a comic figure, always inapt in his comments, incongruous in his appearance; ...avarice and deceit attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/the-tourist-debauches-the-great-monuments-of-antiquity-a-comic-figure/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [But nothing will persuade me that the mere fact of being in a place is enough in itself to justify the effort of getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-diski/but-nothing-will-persuade-me-that-the-mere-fact-of-being-in-a-place/) [Jenny Diski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-diski/) > [I miss my family, and I like being a tourist when I go back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-roth/i-miss-my-family-and-i-like-being-a-tourist-when-i-go-back/) [Tim Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-roth/) > [Tourism as a number-one industry is a terrible, terrible idea for any city, especially New York. If you were going to turn a city,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/tourism-as-a-number-one-industry-is-a-terrible-terrible-idea-for-any/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [An ugly thing, that is what you are when you become a tourist, an ugly, empty thing, a stupid thing, a piece of rubbish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/an-ugly-thing-that-is-what-you-are-when-you-become-a-tourist-an-ugly/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [“It's easy to identify tourists on Edinburgh's Royal mile. They're the ones bound in knitted scarves, wearing puffa jackets and woolly hats no matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriella-bennett/it-s-easy-to-identify-tourists-on-edinburgh-s-royal-mile-they-re-the/) [Gabriella Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriella-bennett/) > [To be a tourist is to escape accountability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/to-be-a-tourist-is-to-escape-accountability/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“I began to think of myself as a perennial tourist. There was something agreeable about this. To be a tourist is to escape accountability.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/i-began-to-think-of-myself-as-a-perennial-tourist-there-was-something/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Traveling for modeling has been great, but I never really have much time to live the tourist life while in all the different cities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rila-fukushima/traveling-for-modeling-has-been-great-but-i-never-really-have-much/) [Rila Fukushima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rila-fukushima/) ## 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 Attitude quotes > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [It's not the method, it's the mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-gilbert/it-s-not-the-method-it-s-the-mindset/) [Andy Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-gilbert/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [Vow to be valiant. Resolve to be radiant. Determine to be dynamic. Strive to be sincere. Aspire to be attuned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-arthur-ward/vow-to-be-valiant-resolve-to-be-radiant-determine-to-be-dynamic/) [William Arthur Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-arthur-ward/) > [Don't judge me because I'm stupid. Don't judge me because I'm, mean. Don't judge me because I'm weird. Don't judge me for mistakes. Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-harden-me/don-t-judge-me-because-i-m-stupid-don-t-judge-me-because-i-m-mean-don/) [Isaiah Harden (Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-harden-me/) > [Your feelings (mood) dictate your thought, your thought determines your attitude (reactions) and your attitude describes your lifestyle, so: be careful how you feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheye-hassan/your-feelings-mood-dictate-your-thought-your-thought-determines-your/) [Sheye Hassan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheye-hassan/) > [Success will come when the societal attitude changes and not a single woman in America asks herself the question 'What did I do?'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/success-will-come-when-the-societal-attitude-changes-and-not-a-single/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [“Good Seeds! Gratitude is the Greatest Attitude that has no Substitute.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-kelvin-clive/good-seeds-gratitude-is-the-greatest-attitude-that-has-no-substitute/) [Bernard Kelvin Clive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-kelvin-clive/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [One genuine reason to feel jealous of my parents:-) I will never ever have a kid as awesome as their's...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-genuine-reason-to-feel-jealous-of-my-parents-i-will-never-ever/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm optimistic Hong Kong will achieve universal suffrage - no matter the attitude of Beijing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-wong/i-m-optimistic-hong-kong-will-achieve-universal-suffrage-no-matter/) [Joshua Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-wong/) > [My attitude it that you don't give in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-taylor/my-attitude-it-that-you-don-t-give-in/) [Phil Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-taylor/) > [Transparency pertains to impartial behavior, implies openness, communication, and accountability. Inculcate transparency in attitude and experience a life free of controversy and blame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-anil-kr-sinha/transparency-pertains-to-impartial-behavior-implies-openness/) [Dr Anil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-anil-kr-sinha/) > [And if the mind thinks with a believing attitude one can do amazing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/and-if-the-mind-thinks-with-a-believing-attitude-one-can-do-amazing/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) [Browse all 9,543 Attitude quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What I'm proposing, to myself and other people, is what I often call the tourist attitude - that you act as though you've never been there before. So that you're not supposed to know anything about it. 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