T

CULTIVATE SILENCE

All profound things, and emotions of things are

preceded and attended by Silence.... Silence is the

general consecration of the universe.

—HERMAN MELVILLE

he fascination with silence began early in life for the composer
John Cage. In 1928, in a speech contest for Los Angeles High
School, he tried to persuade his fellow students and the judges that
America should institute a national day of quiet. By observing
silence, he told the audience, they would finally be able to “hear what
other people think.”
It was the beginning of Cage’s lifelong exploration and
experimentation with what it means to be quiet and the
opportunities for listening that this disciplined silence creates.
Cage wandered after high school. He toured Europe. He studied
painting. He taught music. He composed classical music. He was an
avid observer. Born in 1915 in California, he was just old enough to
remember what premechanized life was like, and as the century
became modern—and technology remade every industry and
occupation—he began to notice just how loud everything had
become.
“Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise,” he would say.
“When we ignore it, it disturbs us. When we listen to it, we find it
fascinating.”