Among the numerous pleasures of Vienna the hotel evenings are famous. During supper Strauss or Lanner play waltzes...After every waltz they get huge applause; and if they play a Quodlibet, or jumble of opera, song and dance, the hearers are so overjoyed that they don't know what to do with themselves. It shows the corrupt taste of the Viennese public.

Bach is like an astronomer who, with the help of ciphers, finds the most wonderful stars.

I'm a revolutionary, money means nothing to me.

Sometimes I can only groan, and suffer, and pour out my despair at the piano.

I don't know how it is, but the Germans are amazed at me and I am amazed at them for finding anything to be amazed about.

Nothing is more odious than music without hidden meaning.

Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.