The attraction of the virtuoso for the public is very like that of the circus for the crowd. There is always the hope that something dangerous may happen.

Beauty must appeal to the senses, must provide us with immediate enjoyment, must impress us or insinuate itself into us without any effort on our part.

[on Richard Wagner] A beautiful sunset that was mistaken for a dawn.

If I am not making music, I have no reason for existing.

Some people wish above all to conform to the rules, I wish only to render what I can hear.

Inspiration and ideas only come to me when I have not had a woman in a very long time... Ballads, polonaises, even a whole concerto may have been lost forever up your des durka, I can't tell you how many. I have been so deeply engulfed in my love for you I have hardly created anything.

People come to music to seek oblivion: is that not also a form of deception?