--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would send the complete works of Johann…" description: "\"I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.\" — Lewis Thomas" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/lewis-thomas-2299_bach_i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johan_167473.png" --- # I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach… ![“I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.” quote by Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/lewis-thomas-2299_bach_i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johan_167473.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/lewis-thomas-2299_bach_i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johan_167473.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/lewis-thomas-2299_bach_i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johan_167473.png) > “I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.” [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sending Bach’s music to space reflects a desire to share human culture beyond Earth, showcasing artistic pride. **In simple terms:** Sharing art with the cosmos shows human pride. Key Takeaway Consider how art represents humanity. Themes culture exploration pride Mood thoughtful inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - space missions - cultural outreach - educational projects - public diplomacy Key Concepts artistic legacy space communication Questions to Reflect On - What does music mean in a cosmic context? - How can art bridge planetary distances? A Different Perspective Space audiences may not perceive music. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast/) [Outer space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outer-space/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Spacecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spacecraft/) [Voyager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voyager/) ## Related quotes > [B.B. King is no match for Johann Sebastian Bach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilana-mercer/b-b-king-is-no-match-for-johann-sebastian-bach/) [Ilana Mercer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilana-mercer/) > [If one were asked to name one musician who came closest to composing without human flaw, I suppose general consensus would choose Johann Sebastian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-copland/if-one-were-asked-to-name-one-musician-who-came-closest-to-composing/) [Aaron Copland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-copland/) > [“Not all musicians believe in God, but they all believe in Johann Sebastian Bach”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mauricio-kagel/not-all-musicians-believe-in-god-but-they-all-believe-in-johann/) Mauricio Kagel > [The real friends of the space voyager are the stars. Their friendly, familiar patterns are constant companions, unchanging, out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-lovell/the-real-friends-of-the-space-voyager-are-the-stars-their-friendly/) [Jim Lovell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-lovell/) > [Any species capable of producing, at this earliest, juvenile stage of its development... the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, cannot be all bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/any-species-capable-of-producing-at-this-earliest-juvenile-stage-of/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [That's why it's called Sebastian Bach. I mean, it's a permanent band, pretty much, but if I jam with other people, it just makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-bach/that-s-why-it-s-called-sebastian-bach-i-mean-it-s-a-permanent-band/) [Sebastian Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-bach/) > [“If you ever desire to gain the mastery over any skill and talent, then, you must convert as much time as Sebastian Bach converted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/if-you-ever-desire-to-gain-the-mastery-over-any-skill-and-talent-then/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [I'll never forget the first time I heard Johann Sebastian Bach's 'Partita in E Major' for violin. 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Johann Sebastian Bach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yngwie-malmsteen/ritchie-blackmore-was-a-huge-early-influence-on-me-but-after-that-i/) [Yngwie Malmsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yngwie-malmsteen/) > [When people ask me how is it I was a musician, I facetiously say that I'm a firm believer in reincarnation and in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-shearing/when-people-ask-me-how-is-it-i-was-a-musician-i-facetiously-say-that/) [George Shearing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-shearing/) > [Perhaps the safest thing to do at the outset, if technology permits, is to send music. This language may be the best we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/perhaps-the-safest-thing-to-do-at-the-outset-if-technology-permits-is/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Music is the effort we make to explain to ourselves how our brains work. We listen to Bach transfixed because this is listening to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/music-is-the-effort-we-make-to-explain-to-ourselves-how-our-brains/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## More by Lewis Thomas > [“We are endowed with genes which code out our reaction to beavers and otters, maybe our reaction to each other as well. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-endowed-with-genes-which-code-out-our-reaction-to-beavers-and/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“It is not a simple thing to decide where we fit, for at one time or another in our lives we manage to organize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-not-a-simple-thing-to-decide-where-we-fit-for-at-one-time-or/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-universe-if-we-can-to-keep/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [If an idea cannot move on its own, pushing it doesn't help; best to let it lie there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/if-an-idea-cannot-move-on-its-own-pushing-it-doesn-t-help-best-to-let/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Left to ourselves, mechanistic and autonomic, we hanker for friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/left-to-ourselves-mechanistic-and-autonomic-we-hanker-for-friends/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I do not agree with this century's fashion of running down the human species as a failed try, a doomed sport. 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In this scenario, Man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-told-that-the-trouble-with-modern-man-is-that-he-has-been/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Explore all 173 Lewis Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## More Bach quotes > [“Do you know what he told me after lying under a cliff for thirty six hours with two inches of his femur sticking out?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/do-you-know-what-he-told-me-after-lying-under-a-cliff-for-thirty-six/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [I listen to Bach a great deal. 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You can't get across the room without running into him and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-roberts/whenever-you-study-composition-you-inevitably-encounter-bach-right/) [Howard Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-roberts/) > [Bernard Herrmann used to write all his scores by himself. So did Bach, Beethoven and Stravinsky. I dont understand why this happens in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ennio-morricone/bernard-herrmann-used-to-write-all-his-scores-by-himself-so-did-bach/) [Ennio Morricone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ennio-morricone/) > [“The way we define opera circa 1700 may help us to throw light not just on the choices facing Bach and his brilliant peer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/the-way-we-define-opera-circa-1700-may-help-us-to-throw-light-not/) [John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/) > [The author's conviction on this day of New Year is that music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-author-s-conviction-on-this-day-of-new-year-is-that-music-begins/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [In Bach there is still too much crude Christianity, crude Germanism, crude scholasticism; he stands on the threshold of European (modern) music, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-bach-there-is-still-too-much-crude-christianity-crude-germanism/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I used to listen to a lot of Bach on the radio, and when the basses started to sing, it made everything complete -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-haden/i-used-to-listen-to-a-lot-of-bach-on-the-radio-and-when-the-basses/) [Charlie Haden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-haden/) > [The music of Bach is without doubt the most sacred gift to the world of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heitor-villa-lobos/the-music-of-bach-is-without-doubt-the-most-sacred-gift-to-the-world/) Heitor Villa-Lobos > [“To wake up one day and be Steinway and Glen in One... Glen Steinway, Steinway Glen, all for Bach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/to-wake-up-one-day-and-be-steinway-and-glen-in-one-glen-steinway/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“You're the kind of child who might develop a passion for Bach." I told him I hadn't at school. The one Bach piece I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/you-re-the-kind-of-child-who-might-develop-a-passion-for-bach-i-told/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“You'll have a good, secure life when being alive means more to you than security, love more than money, your freedom more than public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/you-ll-have-a-good-secure-life-when-being-alive-means-more-to-you/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“BACH! A colossal syllable, one which makes composers tremble, brings performers to their knees, beatifies the Bach-lover, and apparently bores the daylights out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-elie/bach-a-colossal-syllable-one-which-makes-composers-tremble-brings/) [Paul Elie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-elie/) Browse all 199 Bach quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. 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