--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we separate music from life we get…" description: "\"When we separate music from life we get is art.\" — John Cage" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9a/john-cage-2094_art_when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get_2093108.png" --- # When we separate music from life we get is art. ![“When we separate music from life we get is art.” quote by John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9a/john-cage-2094_art_when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get_2093108.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9a/john-cage-2094_art_when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get_2093108.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9a/john-cage-2094_art_when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get_2093108.png) > “When we separate music from life we get is art.” [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. Separating music from life reduces it to mere art, losing its lived relevance. **In simple terms:** Music loses meaning when detached from life. Key Takeaway Integrate art with life. Themes art music life integration Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - performance - education - daily routines Key Concepts aesthetics philosophy culture Questions to Reflect On - How does music affect daily life? - Can art exist without context? A Different Perspective Pure abstraction can feel empty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Separation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/separation/) ## Related quotes > [When we separate music from life we get art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get-art/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [A lot of my personal life feels very separate from my music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-holter/a-lot-of-my-personal-life-feels-very-separate-from-my-music/) [Julia Holter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-holter/) > [I have chosen to keep my personal life separate from my music, as the two are exclusive from each other, and I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-bachman/i-have-chosen-to-keep-my-personal-life-separate-from-my-music-as-the/) [Randy Bachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-bachman/) > [Everything combines for the works of Merzbow. I don't see them as being different and separate. ...Music and art is not separate. I mix…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-pinhas/everything-combines-for-the-works-of-merzbow-i-don-t-see-them-as/) Richard Pinhas > [Think about being onstage playing these songs. I'm opening my personal life up to all these people. But I just can't get attached. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kanal/think-about-being-onstage-playing-these-songs-i-m-opening-my-personal/) [Tony Kanal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kanal/) > [I like to separate the music- and lyric-writing processes if I can. I'll sort of noodle around on my keyboard and my computer until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-manuel-miranda/i-like-to-separate-the-music-and-lyric-writing-processes-if-i-can-i/) [Lin-Manuel Miranda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-manuel-miranda/) > [Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/life-is-art-art-is-life-i-never-separate-it/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [It's really hard for actors to cross over and get any respect as a singer, and if I could just keep it separate and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taryn-manning/it-s-really-hard-for-actors-to-cross-over-and-get-any-respect-as-a/) [Taryn Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taryn-manning/) > [Your work is a separate thing from you. You are this person who has your friends and your life, and you have to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-work-is-a-separate-thing-from-you-you-are-this-person-who-has/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you know they're bad, let them go. If it keeps you alive, hold it close. If they separate you from others, stay away.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris/if-you-know-they-re-bad-let-them-go-if-it-keeps-you-alive-hold-it/) [Chris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris/) > [You've got to separate the singer and the songs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/you-ve-got-to-separate-the-singer-and-the-songs/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [Try to understand what I am saying: everything is dependent on everything else, everything is connected, nothing is separate. Therefore everything is going in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-i-gurdjieff/try-to-understand-what-i-am-saying-everything-is-dependent-on/) [G. I. Gurdjieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-i-gurdjieff/) > [There is a time to separate from our mother. But unless we are ready to separate-unless we are ready to leave her and be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-viorst/there-is-a-time-to-separate-from-our-mother-but-unless-we-are-ready/) [Judith Viorst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-viorst/) > [Church and state should be separate, not only in form, but fact - religion and politics should not be mingled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/millard-fillmore/church-and-state-should-be-separate-not-only-in-form-but-fact/) [Millard Fillmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/millard-fillmore/) > [“Staying separate from those we love hurts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-aman/staying-separate-from-those-we-love-hurts/) [Jodi Aman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-aman/) ## 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 Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When we separate music from life we get is art.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Cage" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get-is-art/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get-is-art/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9a/john-cage-2094_art_when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get_2093108.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9a/john-cage-2094_art_when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get_2093108.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9a/john-cage-2094_art_when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get_2093108.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When we separate music from life we get is art.” — 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": "When we separate music from life...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get-is-art/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/when-we-separate-music-from-life-we-get-is-art/#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 } } ] } ```