"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
"When you start working, everybody is in your studio- the past, your friends, enemies, the art world, and above all, your own ideas- all are there. But as you continue painting, they start leaving, one by one, and you are left completely alone. Then, if you are lucky, even you leave."
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Source: John Cage (2010). “Silence: Lectures and Writings”, p.22, Wesleyan University Press
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