What does “zene nélkül lehet élni, de nem érdemes” mean?

This line, attributed to the composer Kodály Zoltán, is quoted in Hungarian schools and concert programmes the way a proverb is. It also teaches a piece of grammar in miniature: nélkül means “without,” but unlike its English equivalent it follows its noun — zene nélkül, “music without.” Every Hungarian postposition works this way, trailing the word it governs.

More of the family: pénz nélkül (without money), nélküled (without you), nélkülözhetetlen (indispensable). Kodály was born in Kecskemét — the speaker’s own city, which is why she brings him up — and his music-education method is now taught worldwide, so the sentence gets treated as a national motto rather than one man’s opinion. She extends it: art and culture, not only music, are what make living worth the trouble.