--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have about a dozen cassettes lying…" description: "\"I have about a dozen cassettes lying about which I use in random order. Very often, I pick up a cassette to dictate a letter, and I find my voice comin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/tom-stoppard-437_about_i-have-about-a-dozen-cassettes-lying-abo_3149449.png" --- # I have about a dozen cassettes lying about which I use in… ![“I have about a dozen cassettes lying about which I use in random order. Very often, I pick up a cassette to dictate a letter, and I find my voice coming back at me with the lines of plays three years old.” quote by Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/tom-stoppard-437_about_i-have-about-a-dozen-cassettes-lying-abo_3149449.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/tom-stoppard-437_about_i-have-about-a-dozen-cassettes-lying-abo_3149449.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/tom-stoppard-437_about_i-have-about-a-dozen-cassettes-lying-abo_3149449.png) > “I have about a dozen cassettes lying about which I use in random order. Very often, I pick up a cassette to dictate a letter, and I find my voice coming back at me with the lines of plays three years old.” [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker describes using old cassettes to inspire writing, noting how past voices reappear in current work. **In simple terms:** Old cassettes help me find my voice. Key Takeaway Use past media for creative spark. Themes creativity memory artistic process Mood contemplative inspired Type reflective creative When to use this quote - writing workshops - personal journaling - audio archives Key Concepts intertextuality nostalgia Questions to Reflect On - How do past influences shape your current voice? - Can you create without external prompts? A Different Perspective Reliance on past material may hinder original expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Plays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plays/) [Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voice/) ## Related quotes > [I used to do little sketches into my cassette tape recorder when I was a little boy. I would just turn it on and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harland-williams/i-used-to-do-little-sketches-into-my-cassette-tape-recorder-when-i/) [Harland Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harland-williams/) > [I listen to tapes a lot. I have a car that only (has a cassette player). I like the nostalgic factor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-olsen/i-listen-to-tapes-a-lot-i-have-a-car-that-only-has-a-cassette-player/) [Angel Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angel-olsen/) > [I love the Digital Era! I grew up in a time that started from cassette tapes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukmouth/i-love-the-digital-era-i-grew-up-in-a-time-that-started-from-cassette/) Yukmouth > [The reason I make that distinction cassette before CD is you have to listen to it in the order in which I've curated it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-manuel-miranda/the-reason-i-make-that-distinction-cassette-before-cd-is-you-have-to/) [Lin-Manuel Miranda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-manuel-miranda/) > [I think video is the best market. When the cassette market comes out, if you just do movies that nobody else can do, that'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/i-think-video-is-the-best-market-when-the-cassette-market-comes-out/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [I have some vivid memories of walking around as a child with a cassette tape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-vincent-mcmorrow/i-have-some-vivid-memories-of-walking-around-as-a-child-with-a/) [James Vincent McMorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-vincent-mcmorrow/) > [If some unemployed punk in New Jersey, can get a cassette to make love to Elle McPherson for $19.95, this virtual reality stuff is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/if-some-unemployed-punk-in-new-jersey-can-get-a-cassette-to-make-love/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [I had the pleasure of listening to Rickie Lee Jones' Flying Cowboys album on audio cassette, which had just come out at that time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/i-had-the-pleasure-of-listening-to-rickie-lee-jones-flying-cowboys/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [Yeah, you know, I'm always into cassette. At least they seem to be the longest-lasting medium we used to have. I don't play cassettes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-mascis/yeah-you-know-i-m-always-into-cassette-at-least-they-seem-to-be-the/) [J Mascis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-mascis/) > [Last year we drove across the country...We had one cassette tape to listen to on the entire trip... I don't remember what it was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/last-year-we-drove-across-the-country-we-had-one-cassette-tape-to/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [I was going to tape some records onto a cassette, but I got the wires backwards. I erased the all of the records. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/i-was-going-to-tape-some-records-onto-a-cassette-but-i-got-the-wires/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [I grew up in the time just when cassettes were waning and CDs were growing. And so mix tapes - and not mix CDs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-manuel-miranda/i-grew-up-in-the-time-just-when-cassettes-were-waning-and-cds-were/) [Lin-Manuel Miranda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-manuel-miranda/) > [I graduated from high school in 1963. There were no computers, cell phones, Internet, credit cards, cassette tapes or cable TV.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-gitomer/i-graduated-from-high-school-in-1963-there-were-no-computers-cell/) [Jeffrey Gitomer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-gitomer/) > [I get nostalgic for things that didn't really exist. I might have a cassette from the first time a Melle Mel track, say, got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brown/i-get-nostalgic-for-things-that-didn-t-really-exist-i-might-have-a/) [Rob Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brown/) > [I grew up I guess you'd say in the cassette era.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beck/i-grew-up-i-guess-you-d-say-in-the-cassette-era/) [Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beck/) ## More by Tom Stoppard > [If I wanted to change the world, the last thing I would do is write a play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-i-wanted-to-change-the-world-the-last-thing-i-would-do-is-write-a/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-you-want-to-change-something-by-tuesday-theater-is-no-good/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. 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For every thousand people there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky bastard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/what-is-an-artist-for-every-thousand-people-there-s-nine-hundred/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Dying is not romantic, and death is not a game which will soon be over... Death is not anything... death is not... 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I mean, where's it all going to end?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/eternity-s-a-terrible-thought-i-mean-where-s-it-all-going-to-end/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [There is truth and falsehood in a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/there-is-truth-and-falsehood-in-a-comma/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) [Explore all 559 Tom Stoppard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## More About quotes > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. 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As soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magdalena-neuner/i-don-t-think-about-the-press-or-the-crowds-or-the-other-leaders-of/) [Magdalena Neuner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magdalena-neuner/) > [Sport is not just about entertainment. It is equally about winning and losing, pooling and galvanising the energy of the youth, upgrading people's physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-ambani/sport-is-not-just-about-entertainment-it-is-equally-about-winning-and/) [Nita Ambani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-ambani/) > [One of the ways that I discovered my confidence and my ability to overpower is becoming a mother. Suddenly, my world wasn't about myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lights/one-of-the-ways-that-i-discovered-my-confidence-and-my-ability-to/) [Lights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lights/) > [I didn't want to do 'Fashion Police' because I thought, 'This is stupid, this is beneath me, who wants to talk about fashion?' 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