Erik Satie Quotes

“Ah, the cows...”

“An artist must regulate his life.”

“Everybody offers to buy one a drink; but nobody ever dreams of buying one a sandwich.”

“Experience is a form of paralysis.”

“Here is a time-table of my daily acts.

I rise at 7.18; am inspired from 10.23 to 11.47. I lunch at 12.11 and leave the table at 12.14.

A healthy ride on horse-back round my domain follows from 1.19 pm to 2.53 pm. Another bout of inspiration from 3.12 to 4.7 pm.

From 5 to 6.47 pm various occupations (fencing, reflection, immobility, visits, contemplation, dexterity, swimming, etc.)

Dinner is served at 7.16 and finished at 7.20 pm. From 8.9 to 9.59 pm symphonic readings (out loud). I go to bed regularly at 10.37 pm. Once a week (on Tuesdays) I awake with a start at 3.14 am.”

“I am by far your superior, but my notorious modesty prevents me from saying so.”

“I am tired of always dying with a broken heart.”

“I boil my wine and drink it cold mixed with the juice of the Fuschia. I have a good appetite but never talk when eating for fear of strangling myself.”

“I breathe carefully (a little at a time) and dance very rarely. When walking I hold my ribs and look steadily behind me.”

“I came into the world very young, in an age that was very old.”

“I have never written a note I didn't mean.”

“I liked the bit about quarter to eleven.”

“I sleep with only one eye closed, very profoundly. My bed is round with a hole in it for my head to go through. Every hour a servant takes my temperature and gives me another.”

“Last year I gave several lectures on 'Intelligence and Musicality among Animals'. Today I am going to speak to you about 'Intelligence and Musicality among Critics'. The subject is much the same, with some modifications, of course.”

“My dream is to be played everywhere, not only at the Opera.”

“My expression is very serious; when I laugh it is unintentional, and I always apologise very politely.”

“My name is Erik Satie like everyone else.”

“My only nourishment consists of food that is white: eggs, sugar, shredded bones, the fat of dead animals, veal, salt, coco-nuts, chicken cooked in white water, mouldy fruit, rice, turnips, sausages in camphor, pastry, cheese (white varieties), cotton salad, and certain kinds of fish (without their skin).”

“Opera is a musical scenery, a musical atmosphere in which the characters move and talk.”

“The dandy cleans his monocle every day, a silver monocle with a lens of smoked gold, given him by a beautiful lady but, suddenly overcome with sadness, he has lost the monocle case.”

“The musician is perhaps the most modest of animals, but he is also the proudest.”

“We cannot doubt that animals both love and practice music. That is evident. But it seems their musical system differs from ours. It is another school. We are not familiar with their didactic works. Perhaps they don't have any.”

“We should have a music of our own – if possible, without any Sauerkraut.”

“Why attack God? He may be as miserable as we are.”

“Isn't a bookshop, to some extent, a temple to browsing?”

“I took to my room and let small things evolve slowly.”

“Before I compose a piece, I walk round it several times, accompanied by myself.”

“When I was young, people used to say to me: Wait until you're fifty, you'll see. I am fifty. I haven't seen anything.”