Maya Angelou? Celia Caroline Cole? Friedrich Nietzsche? George Martin? Michael Frisby? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: The Earth has natural rhythms such as the high and low tides of the ocean. The sky also has rhythms such as the oscillating electromagnetic radiation from a pulsar. Here is a saying on this theme:
Everything in the universe has a rhythm; everything dances.
These words have been attributed to the prominent U.S. writer Maya Angelou. I have been unable to find a citation. Would you please help me?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The notion that everything in the universe is dancing has a long history. For example, Friedrich Nietzsche applied this metaphor in his opus “Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None” which was composed in the 1880s. Nietzsche’s character Zarathustra contemplated the universe in the following passage. Thomas Common performed the translation from German. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:[1]1916, Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None, Friedrich Nietzsche, Translated by Thomas Common, Section: Before Sunrise, Quote Page 201, The Macmillan Company, New York. (Google Books Full … Continue reading
That thou art to me a dancing-floor for divine chances, that thou art to me a table of the Gods, for divine dice and dice-players!
A strong match for the first statement of the inquiry occurred in 1922 in “The Delineator” journal of New York within an article by Celia Caroline Cole:[2]1922 April, The Delineator, Volume 100, Number 3, What’s All the Shootin’ For? by Celia Caroline Cole, Start Page 57, Quote Page 57, Column 2, Butterick Publishing Company, New York. (Verified … Continue reading
Everything in the universe has rhythm: The rising and the setting of the sun, the ebb and flow of the sea, the coming of the stars, the seasons. They go out in order to come in—rhythmical, measured order.
Maya Angelou employed the phrase “everything in the universe has a rhythm” during an interview in 1973, and she stated that “everything dances” in 1974. Thus, Angelou used both statements, but QI has not yet found direct evidence that she employed them contiguously.
Additional detailed citations are presented in the full article on the Medium platform which is available here.
Image Notes: Painting titled “Three Dancers in an Exercise Hall” by Edgar Degas circa 1880. Image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Tom Callens whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
References
↑1 | 1916, Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None, Friedrich Nietzsche, Translated by Thomas Common, Section: Before Sunrise, Quote Page 201, The Macmillan Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link |
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↑2 | 1922 April, The Delineator, Volume 100, Number 3, What’s All the Shootin’ For? by Celia Caroline Cole, Start Page 57, Quote Page 57, Column 2, Butterick Publishing Company, New York. (Verified with scans) link |