"To Whom It May Concern: The white paintings came first; my silent piece came later."

John Cage: Preface to "On Robert Rauschenberg, artist, and his work."
In: Silence. Lectures and Writings by John Cage.
Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1973, p. 98.

"[...] do we not already have too much to look at? (Generosity.) Left to myself, I would be perfectly contented with black pictures, providing Rauschenberg had painted them.
(I had one, but unfortunately the new room has a slanting ceiling and besides the wall isn't long enough for it. These are problems that have no solution, such as the suit wearing out.)"

John Cage: "On Robert Rauschenberg, artist, and his work."
In: Metro. Milano, 1961. Reprinted in: Silence. Lectures and Writings by John Cage.
Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1973, pp. 98-107. [p. 107.]