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If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The… — William Shakespeare

Play · Comedy (play) · Romantic comedy (play)

If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken and so die.

William Shakespeare
Twelfth Night · 1602
★ 5.5
Provenance
Current citation
Shakespeare, William. "Twelfth Night." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 1.
Original citation
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night, Or What You Will. 1602, Middle Temple Hall, London, England, UK, act 1, sc. 1.

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I think the main thing a musician would like to do is to give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things he knows of and senses in the universe. That's what music is to me-it's just another way of saying this is a big, beautiful universe we live in, that's been given to us, and here's an example of just how magnificent and encompassing it is. That’s what I would like to do. I think that’s one of the greatest things you can do in life, and we all try to do it in some way. The musician’s is through his music.

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