“To talk well and eloquently is a very great art, but that an equally great one is to know the right moment to stop.”
“If only the whole world could feel the power of harmony.”
“I should like to know for what reason idleness is so popular with many young people that it is impossible to dissuade them from it either by words or by chastisements.”
“The best way to learn is through the powerful force of rhythm.”
“You know that I immerse myself in music, so to speak— that I think about it all day long— that I like experimenting— studying— reflecting.”
“I pay no attention whatever to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.”
“A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether he travels or not; but a man of superior talent (which I cannot deny myself to be without being impious) will go to pieces if he remains forever in the same place.”
“I am not thoughtless but am prepared for anything and as a result can wait patiently for whatever the future holds in store, and I’ll be able to endure it.”
“I am never happier than when I have something to compose, for that, after all, is my sole delight and passion”
“Silence is very important. The silence between the notes are as important as the notes themselves.”
“Our riches, being in our brains, die with us… Unless of course someone chops off our head, in which case, we won’t need them anyway.”
“Nevertheless the passions, whether violent or not, should never be so expressed as to reach the point of causing disgust; and music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music.”
“It is a great consolation for me to remember that the Lord, to whom I had drawn near in humble and child-like faith, has suffered and died for me, and that He will look on me in love and compassion.”
“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.”
“One must not make oneself cheap here – that is a cardinal point – or else one is done. Whoever is most impertinent has the best chance.”
“I am not thoughtless but am prepared for anything and as a result can wait patiently for whatever the future holds in store, and I’ll be able to endure it.”
“What’s even worse than a flute? – Two flutes!”
“Whoever is most impertinent has the best chance.”
“All I insist on, and nothing else, is that you should show the whole world that you are not afraid. Be silent, if you choose; but when it is necessary, speak — and speak in such a way that people will remember it.”
“Our riches, being in our brains, die with us… Unless of course someone chops off our head, in which case, we won’t need them anyway.”
“A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether he travels or not; but a man of superior talent will go to pieces if he remains forever in the same place.”
“Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.”
“We shall go on doing till we can do something worth doing; but I am one of those who will go on doing till all doing are at an end.”
“It is a mistake to think that the practice of my art has become easy to me. I assure you, dear friend, no one has given so much care to the study of composition as I. There is scarcely a famous master in music whose works I have not frequently and diligently studied.”
“They probably think because I am so small and young, nothing of greatness and class can come out of me; but they shall soon find out.”
