[T]he $1,800,000 that I made, though made openly, legally, and in accordance with rules etc. of the business, was all out of proportion to the “idea,” to the service that I rendered society. A blacksmith who has made a shoe so that a horse will slip less, and incidentally $18 per week, has come nearer earning that $1,800,000 than I did.
– Charles Ives, “George’s Adventure,” 1919 (in Memos, p. 226)
Kyle Gann on music after the fact
