--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I compose for the common man, for our…" description: "\"I compose for the common man, for our epoch.\" — Mikis Theodorakis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e61/mikis-theodorakis-12162_common-man_i-compose-for-the-common-man-for-our-epo_1204637.jpg" --- # I compose for the common man, for our epoch. ![“I compose for the common man, for our epoch.” quote by Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e61/mikis-theodorakis-12162_common-man_i-compose-for-the-common-man-for-our-epo_1204637.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e61/mikis-theodorakis-12162_common-man_i-compose-for-the-common-man-for-our-epo_1204637.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e61/mikis-theodorakis-12162_common-man_i-compose-for-the-common-man-for-our-epo_1204637.jpg) > “I compose for the common man, for our epoch.” [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writes for the everyday person, capturing the spirit of his time. **In simple terms:** Creates art for ordinary people. Key Takeaway Focus on relatable, timely themes. Themes art society culture time commonality Mood inspirational hopeful Type artistic social When to use this quote - public speeches - community events - educational outreach - media broadcasts Key Concepts folk music social commentary accessibility Questions to Reflect On - Who is your audience and what do they need? - How can art inspire social change? A Different Perspective May be too broad, lacking specific issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-man/) [Epoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epoch/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) ## Related quotes > [“Of the works of this mind history is the record. Its genius is illustrated by the entire series of days. Man is explicable by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/of-the-works-of-this-mind-history-is-the-record-its-genius-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I put one questions. For whom I compose? My answer is I wanted to address to all my people. And if I write music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/i-put-one-questions-for-whom-i-compose-my-answer-is-i-wanted-to/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [Those who respect the intelligence of the common man have always been masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suhasini-maniratnam/those-who-respect-the-intelligence-of-the-common-man-have-always-been/) [Suhasini Maniratnam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suhasini-maniratnam/) > [Hathiram Choudhary is a vulnerable, intense and deep character. Like every common man, he just wants to prove himself and better himself. But he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaideep-ahlawat/hathiram-choudhary-is-a-vulnerable-intense-and-deep-character-like/) [Jaideep Ahlawat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaideep-ahlawat/) > [In a democracy, voting is a huge and most important right of a common man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-tripathi/in-a-democracy-voting-is-a-huge-and-most-important-right-of-a-common/) [Pankaj Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-tripathi/) > [Even in front of nature one must compose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/even-in-front-of-nature-one-must-compose/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [I've been a full-time composer for many years, and I'm still learning all the time. There is always more than one musical "solution" to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keltonic/i-ve-been-a-full-time-composer-for-many-years-and-i-m-still-learning/) [John Keltonic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keltonic/) > [If I pick up a fiddle, I don't compose on it, so much as I just play whatever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-amidon/if-i-pick-up-a-fiddle-i-don-t-compose-on-it-so-much-as-i-just-play/) [Sam Amidon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-amidon/) > [To compose is to remember music that has never been written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-schumann/to-compose-is-to-remember-music-that-has-never-been-written/) [Robert Schumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-schumann/) > [I got to compose for a full symphony orchestra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-conte/i-got-to-compose-for-a-full-symphony-orchestra/) [Jack Conte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-conte/) > [I know a famous violinist who told me he can't compose because he knows too many pieces. So, when he starts thinking of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-portman/i-know-a-famous-violinist-who-told-me-he-can-t-compose-because-he/) [Natalie Portman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-portman/) > [Every song that I compose has to satisfy the music director in me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gopi-sundar/every-song-that-i-compose-has-to-satisfy-the-music-director-in-me/) [Gopi Sundar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gopi-sundar/) > [One of the challenges is creating characters. I am trying to compose my sentences to express epic events happening to ordinary people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-hirata/one-of-the-challenges-is-creating-characters-i-am-trying-to-compose/) [Andrea Hirata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-hirata/) > [I don't meditate before I play or compose, but I see playing and composing as meditative acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-swallow/i-don-t-meditate-before-i-play-or-compose-but-i-see-playing-and/) Steve Swallow > [I follow a simple formula when I compose. I ask myself, 'What would the audience want to hear?' and 'Why would they buy my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-rahman/i-follow-a-simple-formula-when-i-compose-i-ask-myself-what-would-the/) [A. R. Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-rahman/) ## More by Mikis Theodorakis > [This taste of freedom is still bitter because left in Athens are my wife and my two children and because so many of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/this-taste-of-freedom-is-still-bitter-because-left-in-athens-are-my/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [I wanted to unite the popular and the serious, and to make a popular symphony, a popular oratorio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/i-wanted-to-unite-the-popular-and-the-serious-and-to-make-a-popular/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [I was thankful to him, this man who freed me. At the same time I was annoyed be cause the man who freed me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/i-was-thankful-to-him-this-man-who-freed-me-at-the-same-time-i-was/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [We people, maybe because we have the greatest wisdom, we are also mad. We destroy the harmony of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/we-people-maybe-because-we-have-the-greatest-wisdom-we-are-also-mad/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [When I was still a child, there was the Metaxis, a Fascist Youth Movement in which all subteenagers and teenagers were obligatory members, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/when-i-was-still-a-child-there-was-the-metaxis-a-fascist-youth/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [I'm not a communist or social democrat or anything else. I'm a free man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/i-m-not-a-communist-or-social-democrat-or-anything-else-i-m-a-free-man/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [The established politicians, who before the war preached national pride and Christian love, were the first to collaborate with the Germans. But the communists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/the-established-politicians-who-before-the-war-preached-national/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [I like always to be contemporary. I like to deal with the things of today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/i-like-always-to-be-contemporary-i-like-to-deal-with-the-things-of/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [My work is based upon contemporary Greek poetry - poetry which is concerned with the problems of today's civilization and, of course, with simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/my-work-is-based-upon-contemporary-greek-poetry-poetry-which-is/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [In my youth there must have been 15 synagogues in Salonika alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/in-my-youth-there-must-have-been-15-synagogues-in-salonika-alone/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [I like to have the feeling I'm creating something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/i-like-to-have-the-feeling-i-m-creating-something/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [My father's father fought to free Crete from the Turks, who expelled my mother from her ancestral home in Asia Minor in 1922. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/my-father-s-father-fought-to-free-crete-from-the-turks-who-expelled/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [In America the Jewish community is very strong. It controls much of the economy. Certainly the mass media.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/in-america-the-jewish-community-is-very-strong-it-controls-much-of/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [I've directed fragmentarily at the Herod Atticus, but never before a popular laiko unitals concert.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/i-ve-directed-fragmentarily-at-the-herod-atticus-but-never-before-a/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [In the Averoff prison hospital I saw men who had had the bones in their feet broken by the severity of the torture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/in-the-averoff-prison-hospital-i-saw-men-who-had-had-the-bones-in/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) [Explore all 56 Mikis Theodorakis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) ## More Common man quotes > [Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/those-who-advocate-common-usage-in-philosophy-sometimes-speak-in-a/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [In a democracy, voting is a huge and most important right of a common man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-tripathi/in-a-democracy-voting-is-a-huge-and-most-important-right-of-a-common/) [Pankaj Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-tripathi/) > [Through my singing and acting and speaking, I want to make freedom ring. Maybe I can touch people's hearts better than I can their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-robeson/through-my-singing-and-acting-and-speaking-i-want-to-make-freedom/) [Paul Robeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-robeson/) > [It's nice that people can call me an artist and it's nice that I can refer to myself as such, but it also kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matana-roberts/it-s-nice-that-people-can-call-me-an-artist-and-it-s-nice-that-i-can/) [Matana Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matana-roberts/) > [The common man, finding himself in a world so excellent, technically and socially, believes it has been produced by nature, and never thinks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-common-man-finding-himself-in-a-world-so-excellent-technically/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [No one got rich on a government program. Do not choose to be a common man. You can be uncommon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-ramsey/no-one-got-rich-on-a-government-program-do-not-choose-to-be-a-common/) [Dave Ramsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-ramsey/) > [Under capitalism the common man enjoys amenities which in ages gone by were unknown and therefore inaccessible even to the richest people. But, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/under-capitalism-the-common-man-enjoys-amenities-which-in-ages-gone/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [The founder of any branch must be more ingenious than the common man. However, if his achievement is not carried on by disciples of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/the-founder-of-any-branch-must-be-more-ingenious-than-the-common-man/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [I am terrified of restrictive religious doctrine, having learned from history that when men who adhere to any form of it are in control,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/i-am-terrified-of-restrictive-religious-doctrine-having-learned-from/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [“Creative writer has artistic sensibility. He observes the world like any common men. But his vision observes the world quite differently. He can perceive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/creative-writer-has-artistic-sensibility-he-observes-the-world-like/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The commander of the forces of a large State may be carried off, but the will of even a common man cannot be taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-commander-of-the-forces-of-a-large-state-may-be-carried-off-but/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Common men should esteem learning as silver, noble men prize it as gold, and princes as jewels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-ii/common-men-should-esteem-learning-as-silver-noble-men-prize-it-as/) Pope Pius II > [Hathiram Choudhary is a vulnerable, intense and deep character. Like every common man, he just wants to prove himself and better himself. But he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaideep-ahlawat/hathiram-choudhary-is-a-vulnerable-intense-and-deep-character-like/) [Jaideep Ahlawat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaideep-ahlawat/) > [Those who respect the intelligence of the common man have always been masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suhasini-maniratnam/those-who-respect-the-intelligence-of-the-common-man-have-always-been/) [Suhasini Maniratnam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suhasini-maniratnam/) > [I know that a lot of people take inspiration from the fact that I was just a common man with no film background who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uday-kiran/i-know-that-a-lot-of-people-take-inspiration-from-the-fact-that-i-was/) [Uday Kiran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uday-kiran/) [Browse all 367 Common man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-man/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I compose for the common man, for our epoch.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mikis Theodorakis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/i-compose-for-the-common-man-for-our-epoch/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Common man" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/i-compose-for-the-common-man-for-our-epoch/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e61/mikis-theodorakis-12162_common-man_i-compose-for-the-common-man-for-our-epo_1204637.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e61/mikis-theodorakis-12162_common-man_i-compose-for-the-common-man-for-our-epo_1204637.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e61/mikis-theodorakis-12162_common-man_i-compose-for-the-common-man-for-our-epo_1204637.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I compose for the common man, for our epoch.” — Mikis Theodorakis", "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": "Mikis Theodorakis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I compose for the common man,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/i-compose-for-the-common-man-for-our-epoch/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/i-compose-for-the-common-man-for-our-epoch/#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 } } ] } ```