John Cage on ideas

Still image from 3D simulation of a petrochemical refinery

Still image from 3D simulation of a petrochemical refinery.
Image credit: Looking Glass Productions Ltd.

I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.
John Cage in an interview with Arnold Jay Smith published as “Reaching for the Cosmos: A Composer’s Colloquium,” in DownBeat, Volume 44, Number 18, (October 27, 1977). Available in Richard Kostelanetz‘s Conversing With Cage, Edition 2, (New York: Routledge, 2003), p. 221. First published (New York: Limelight Editions, 1988).

Google Book Viewer


"I can´t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I´m frightened of the old ones."
John Cage Posted on behalf of on Saturday, July 17th, 2010 under Quotations.

Leave a Reply

You can embed videos and photos in your comments just by including the URL. Here's a list of supported websites and instructions.

You can use these HTML tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>