A piece of music is an experience to be taken by itself.

B.F. Skinner
About This Quote

When it comes to music, this quote is more than just a cliché. Although music does take on different meanings for different people, the idea that a piece of music is something to be experienced as opposed to analyzed is definitely true. When we listen to music, we don’t think about the structure of the notes, or how many tones there are in a certain key. We don’t think about the meaning of the words on the sheet music and we certainly don’t care about how long it takes for each note to play.

Rather, we experience the piece of music as a whole. It requires us to use our bodies in ways that are different from what we are accustomed to, but once we are in the moment, the music transports us to another place altogether.

Source: Walden Two

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  3. Philosophy is the highest music. - Plato
  4. Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul. - Plato
  5. The truth is, going against the internal stream of ignorance is way more rebellious than trying to start some sort of cultural revolution. - Noah Levine
More Quotes By B.F. Skinner
  1. We shouldn't teach great books we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement.
  2. A scientist may not be sure of the answer, but he's often sure he can find one. And that's a condition which is clearly not enjoyed by philosophy.
  3. A fourth-grade reader may be a sixth-grade mathematician. The grade is an administrative device which does violence to the nature of the developmental process.
  4. Education is what survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten.
  5. Why did colleges make their students take examinations, and why did they give grade? What did a grade really mean? When a student "studied" did he do anything more than read and think-- or was there something special which no one in Walden Two would...
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