--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Music and dancing (the more the pity)…" description: "\"Music and dancing (the more the pity) have become so closely associated with ideas of riot and debauchery among the less cultivated classes, that a tas..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10d/john-herschel-18983_amusement_music-and-dancing-the-more-the-pity-have_311467.png" --- # Music and dancing (the more the pity) have become so… ![“Music and dancing (the more the pity) have become so closely associated with ideas of riot and debauchery among the less cultivated classes, that a taste for them, for their own sakes, can hardly be said to exist, and before they can be recommended as innocent or safe amusements, a very great…” quote by John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10d/john-herschel-18983_amusement_music-and-dancing-the-more-the-pity-have_311467.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10d/john-herschel-18983_amusement_music-and-dancing-the-more-the-pity-have_311467.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10d/john-herschel-18983_amusement_music-and-dancing-the-more-the-pity-have_311467.png) > “Music and dancing (the more the pity) have become so closely associated with ideas of riot and debauchery among the less cultivated classes, that a taste for them, for their own sakes, can hardly be said to exist, and before they can be recommended as innocent or safe amusements, a very great change of ideas must take place.” [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that music and dance are linked to disorder among the uncultivated, so they cannot be seen as harmless until societal views shift. **In simple terms:** Music and dance are viewed as dangerous for the uncultivated. Key Takeaway Change attitudes before deeming them innocent. Themes culture morality art class perception Mood critical reflective Type analytical observational When to use this quote - public policy debates - education curricula - community events - media representation Key Concepts social norms cultural stigma entertainment class distinction Questions to Reflect On - Can cultural perceptions of art change without broader social reform? - What role does class play in defining “acceptable” entertainment? A Different Perspective The view may overlook the positive social functions of music and dance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amusement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusement/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dance/) [Dancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dancing/) [Debauchery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debauchery/) [Great change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-change/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Music And Dancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music-and-dancing/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Riot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/riot/) ## Related quotes > [Music and dancing (the more the pity) have become so closely associated with ideas of riot and debauchery among the less cultivated classes, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/music-and-dancing-the-more-the-pity-have-become-so-closely-associated-2/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [I like music and dancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evonne-goolagong-cawley/i-like-music-and-dancing/) [Evonne Goolagong Cawley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evonne-goolagong-cawley/) > [We started out because we love music and dancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-hope/we-started-out-because-we-love-music-and-dancing/) [J-Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-hope/) > [You've got to keep your body active, even if that means just turning on some music and dancing for an hour. ...That's how you;ll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-obama/you-ve-got-to-keep-your-body-active-even-if-that-means-just-turning/) [Michelle Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-obama/) > [“The Three-Decker "The three-volume novel is extinct." Full thirty foot she towered from waterline to rail. It cost a watch to steer her, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/the-three-decker-the-three-volume-novel-is-extinct-full-thirty-foot/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [“ The guys in the saloons shoving free ones across the bar and saying happy new year and many more of them kid you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalton-trumbo/the-guys-in-the-saloons-shoving-free-ones-across-the-bar-and-saying/) [Dalton Trumbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalton-trumbo/) > [We could say that meditation doesn't have a reason or doesn't have a purpose. In this respect it's unlike almost all other things we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-could-say-that-meditation-doesn-t-have-a-reason-or-doesn-t-have-a/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/there-is-nothing-more-notable-in-socrates-than-that-he-found-time/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Wrestling is an art. Every culture has an art, like music and dancing and fighting. So that's my base. If I think about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shinsuke-nakamura/wrestling-is-an-art-every-culture-has-an-art-like-music-and-dancing/) [Shinsuke Nakamura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shinsuke-nakamura/) > [“I peeked into the Great Hall,” Florine said so quietly Aelin could barely hear her. “To see how the general is faring. He is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/i-peeked-into-the-great-hall-florine-said-so-quietly-aelin-could/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [It is music and dancing that make me at peace with the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/it-is-music-and-dancing-that-make-me-at-peace-with-the-world/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [“Music and dancing employed in sense gratification are to be accepted as demoniac, but the same music and dancing, when employed in glorifying the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/music-and-dancing-employed-in-sense-gratification-are-to-be-accepted/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Time to clean my room: 50% listening to music and dancing around, 49% being lazy, 1% cleaning up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/time-to-clean-my-room-50-listening-to-music-and-dancing-around-49/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The spirit of playful competition is, as a social impulse, older than culture itself and pervades all life like a veritable ferment. Ritual grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/the-spirit-of-playful-competition-is-as-a-social-impulse-older-than/) [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) > [I love composing and writing music and dancing and performing and conceptualizing creatively for visual mediums. I love to create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/i-love-composing-and-writing-music-and-dancing-and-performing-and/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) ## More by John Herschel > [Self-respect,--the corner-stone of all virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/self-respect-the-corner-stone-of-all-virtue/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [ \[When nature appears complicated:\] The moment we contemplate it as it is, and attain a position from which we can take a commanding view,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/when-nature-appears-complicated-the-moment-we-contemplate-it-as-it-is/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Music and dancing (the more the pity) have become so closely associated with ideas of riot and debauchery among the less cultivated classes, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/music-and-dancing-the-more-the-pity-have-become-so-closely-associated-2/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [The novel, in its best form, I regard as one of the most powerful engines of civilization ever invented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/the-novel-in-its-best-form-i-regard-as-one-of-the-most-powerful/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [No doubt the testimony of natural reason, on whatever exercised, must, of necessity, stop short of those truths which it is the object of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/no-doubt-the-testimony-of-natural-reason-on-whatever-exercised-must/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [The end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century were remarkable for the small amount of scientific movement going on in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/the-end-of-the-eighteenth-and-the-beginning-of-the-nineteenth-century/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Occurrences which according to received theories ought not to happen, are the facts which serve as clues to new discoveries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/occurrences-which-according-to-received-theories-ought-not-to-happen/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Almost all the greatest discoveries in astronomy have resulted from what we have elsewhere termed Residual Phenomena, of a qualitative or numerical kind, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/almost-all-the-greatest-discoveries-in-astronomy-have-resulted-from/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Accustomed to trace the operation of general causes, and the exemplification of general laws, in circumstances where the uninformed and unenquiring eye perceives neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/accustomed-to-trace-the-operation-of-general-causes-and-the/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Geology, in the magnitude and sublimity of the objects of which it treats, undoubtedly ranks, in the scale of the sciences, next to astronomy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/geology-in-the-magnitude-and-sublimity-of-the-objects-of-which-it/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Were I to pray for a taste which should stand me in good stead under every variety of circumstances and be a source of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/were-i-to-pray-for-a-taste-which-should-stand-me-in-good-stead-under/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Humans always have fear of an unknown situation -- this is normal. The important thing is what we do about it. If fear is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/humans-always-have-fear-of-an-unknown-situation-this-is-normal-the/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [First, In showing in how to avoid attempting impossibilities. Second, In securing us from important mistakes in attempting what is, in itself possible, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/first-in-showing-in-how-to-avoid-attempting-impossibilities-second-in/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [The end of the eighteenth and the commencement of the nineteenth century are remarkable for the small amount of scientific movement going on in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/the-end-of-the-eighteenth-and-the-commencement-of-the-nineteenth/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) [Explore all 33 John Herschel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) ## More Amusement quotes > [Cultivate the habit of thinking ahead, and of anticipating the necessary and immediate consequences of all your actions… Likewise in your pleasures, ask yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/cultivate-the-habit-of-thinking-ahead-and-of-anticipating-the/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. 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Then I wrote 'The Rose,' and through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-mcbroom/i-just-started-writing-for-my-own-amusement-and-occasionally-singing/) [Amanda McBroom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-mcbroom/) > [Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/happiness-does-not-consist-in-pastimes-and-amusements-but-in-virtuous/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-mass-of-men-lead-lives-of-quiet-desperation-what-is-called/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Ordinary people simply don't know what books mean to us, shut up here. Reading, learning, and the radio are our amusements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frank/ordinary-people-simply-don-t-know-what-books-mean-to-us-shut-up-here/) [Anne Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frank/) > [My first job was at an amusement park in Virginia. It was the worst. I loved the park but once I'd worked there all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-mcbride/my-first-job-was-at-an-amusement-park-in-virginia-it-was-the-worst-i/) [Danny McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-mcbride/) > [The Stoics say, "Retire within yourselves; it is there you will find your rest." And that is not true. Others say, "Go out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-stoics-say-retire-within-yourselves-it-is-there-you-will-find/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [I realized, "Gee, you're making the same film over and over here." 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