On Repetition: Part 1

Old-time music is built on repetition (among other things) as well as repetition. I've been looking for some philosophical support for the old-time aesthetic. Here's my first patron saint: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (29 August 1809 - 8 October 1894): American physician, writer, and poet; father of US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

From: The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1858): He must be a poor creature that does not often repeat himself. Imagine the author of the excellent piece of advice, "Know thyself," never alluding to that sentiment again during the course of a protracted existence! Why, the truths a man carries about with him are his tools; and do you think a carpenter is bound to use the same plane but once to smooth a knotty board with, or to hang up his hammer after it has driven its first nail? I shall never repeat a conversation, but an idea often. I shall use the same types when I like, but not commonly the same stereotypes. A thought is often original, though you have uttered it a hundred times. It has come to you over a new route, by a new and express train of associations.”