"I've managed to dodge the curse. Not all my family have. Of course, music helped me - music is all about civilization, about something worthwhile. It's all about ideas"
About this Quote
Then comes the escape hatch: music. Getty casts art as antidote, a discipline that drags him out of the dynastic funhouse and back into a world where effort, taste, and time matter. "Music is all about civilization" is doing double duty. It's a sincere confession of what art gives him, and it's a subtle rebranding move: the tycoon wants to be read less as a custodian of capital and more as a custodian of culture.
The most revealing pivot is "something worthwhile" followed by "It's all about ideas". That insistence is a moral alibi and a claim to legitimacy. In a culture suspicious of inherited power, attaching yourself to "ideas" is a way to argue you belong in the realm of meaning, not just money. It also smuggles in a hierarchy: finance is brute force; music is refinement. The subtext isn't just that music saved him. It's that art is his proof of personhood, a way to dodge the curse by becoming someone who can be judged on more than a surname.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Getty, Gordon. (2026, January 16). I've managed to dodge the curse. Not all my family have. Of course, music helped me - music is all about civilization, about something worthwhile. It's all about ideas. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-managed-to-dodge-the-curse-not-all-my-family-95782/
Chicago Style
Getty, Gordon. "I've managed to dodge the curse. Not all my family have. Of course, music helped me - music is all about civilization, about something worthwhile. It's all about ideas." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-managed-to-dodge-the-curse-not-all-my-family-95782/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I've managed to dodge the curse. Not all my family have. Of course, music helped me - music is all about civilization, about something worthwhile. It's all about ideas." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-managed-to-dodge-the-curse-not-all-my-family-95782/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.





