Saturday, January 20, 2024

Differential Quote Day

 I'm still doing research for my next Music, War, and Philosophy post and I keep running across interesting quotes:

  • “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.” ― Francis Bacon, The Essays
  • "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." --attributed, possibly incorrectly, to Dorothy Parker
  • “With reasonable men, I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost.” ― William Lloyd Garrison
  • “The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful.” ― Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

  • Let's apply that first one to some music: Some pieces are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. Here is one from each category:

    Vivaldi, Concerto in B minor for Four Violins:


    Schubert: Symphony "Great C Major":


    Bach, Art of Fugue:




    No comments: