Quote: Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music

Sun Dec 2 20:15:45 UTC 2012

Update: The following saying is popularly credited to Friedrich
Nietzsche though I have been unable to substantiate the linkage:

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who
could not hear the music.

This concept was used to provide the framework of a simile in 1813 by
the author Anne Louise Germaine de Staël. Other authors used this
trope in the 1800s, and several cites are given here:

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/06/05/dance-insane/

This update is about an alternative phrasing of the expression using
the word "mad" instead of "insane". Here is an instance published in
1927 in "The Times" of London:

[Begin ref] 1927 February 16, The Times (UK), The Dance, Page 15,
Column 4, London, England. (Times Digital Archive GaleGroup) [End ref]
[Begin excerpt]
They who dance are thought mad by those who hear not the music. The
truth of the old proverb was never more surely borne out that it is
just now.
[End excerpt]

In 1929 the expression was listed in the reference: "English Proverbs
and Proverbial Phrases: A Historical Dictionary". The citation given
was to the 1927 newspaper instance which was presented immediately
above:

[Begin ref] 1929, English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases: A
Historical Dictionary, Editor G. L. Apperson, Quote Page 133 and 134,
J. M. Dent and Sons, London. (Questia) [End ref]
[Begin excerpt]
They who dance are thought mad by those who hear not the music.
Spoken of as an "old proverb." 1927: Times, 16 Feb., p. 15, col. 4.
[End excerpt]

In 2002 the reference "Thesaurus of Traditional English Metaphor" from
Routledge included a version of the adage and assigned it the
remarkably early date of 1575. A precise citation to support this date
was not given, and I have so far been unable to locate a sixteenth
century work containing the saying:

[Begin ref] 2002, Thesaurus of Traditional English Metaphor, Editor P.
R. Wilkinson [Peter Richard Wilkinson], 2nd Edition, Section: K.9b
Dancing and music, Page 897, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London
and New York. (Google Books Preview) [End ref]
[Begin excerpt]
they who dance are thought mad by those who hear not the music [1575]
Said when someone’s motivation is not appreciated; we should not judge
others without knowing all the facts.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 1:57 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Quote: Those who dance are considered insane by those who
>               can't hear the music
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Nowadays I usually consider those who dance to be insane because I do hear
> the music.
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 1:50 PM, Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Quote: Those who dance are considered insane by those who
>>               can't hear the music
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> The idea goes back to at least 1814. The post on the QI website is
>> undergoing modifications and is not visible.
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 12:47 PM, Garson O'Toole
>> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> > Subject:      Quote: Those who dance are considered insane by those who
>> can't
>> >              hear the music
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > The following statement is often credited to the philosopher Friedrich
>> > Nietzsche:
>> >
>> > And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who
>> > could not hear the music.
>> >
>> > Megan Fox has a tattoo of this expression. I haven't located any
>> > substantive evidence that Nietzsche wrote or said this. Maybe a list
>> > member can find something.
>> >
>> > A very different philosopher is associated with the earliest
>> > appearance of the idea. In 1997 the comedian George Carlin published
>> > "Brain Droppings", and it included the following remark [GCBD]:
>> >
>> > [Begin excerpt]
>> > Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music.
>> > [End excerpt]
>> >
>> > [GCBD] 1997, Brain Droppings by George Carlin, [Freestanding remark],
>> > Page 74, Hyperion, New York. (Verified on paper)
>> >
>> > More on this topic is available here:
>> >
>> > http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/06/05/dance-insane/
>> >
>> > Thanks for any help you can provide
>> > Garson
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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