In plain words
When you can't find the words, singing or playing music can still say what you feel.
Where these words come from
- 92% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- 'What the Moon Saw' (1840), Thirty-first Evening — published English translation on Project Gutenberg (#27000); a prisoner scratches a melody as his last message. NOT the popular paraphrase 'Where words fail, music speaks,' which has no primary source.
- What the Moon Saw (Thirty-first Evening)
- 1840
More from Hans Christian Andersen
See allTo be born in a duck's nest, in a farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan's egg.
Hans Christian AndersenTo travel is to live.Hans Christian AndersenThe sun made the leaves transparent—there was a fragrance, a freshness—the birds sang. I was overcome by it.Hans Christian AndersenThat which is bitter passes away, and the whole world appears in sunlight.Hans Christian AndersenMy life is a lovely story, happy and full of incident.Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian AndersenTo travel is to live.Hans Christian AndersenThe sun made the leaves transparent—there was a fragrance, a freshness—the birds sang. I was overcome by it.Hans Christian AndersenThat which is bitter passes away, and the whole world appears in sunlight.Hans Christian AndersenMy life is a lovely story, happy and full of incident.Hans Christian AndersenMore on music
Melody is the essence of music.
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartMusic must never offend the ear, even in most horrendous situations, but must always be pleasing.Wolfgang Amadeus MozartMelody and harmony should be simply tools in the hands of the artist, with which he creates music.
Giuseppe VerdiSometimes I am so full of music, and so overflowing with melody, that I find it simply impossible to write down anything.
Robert SchumannA painter paints his pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.
Leopold StokowskiWe want our sound to go into the soul of the audience, and see if it can awaken some little thing in their minds.
Jimi Hendrix
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartMusic must never offend the ear, even in most horrendous situations, but must always be pleasing.Wolfgang Amadeus MozartMelody and harmony should be simply tools in the hands of the artist, with which he creates music.Giuseppe VerdiSometimes I am so full of music, and so overflowing with melody, that I find it simply impossible to write down anything.Robert SchumannA painter paints his pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.Leopold StokowskiWe want our sound to go into the soul of the audience, and see if it can awaken some little thing in their minds.Jimi Hendrix