Oh, how miserable it is to have no one to share your sorrows and joys, and, when your heart is heavy, to have no soul to whom you can pour out your woes.

The three most celebrated doctors on the island have been to see me. One sniffed at what I spat, the second tapped where I spat from, and the third sounded me and listened as I spat. The first said I was dead, the second that I was dying and the third that I'm going to die.

The Official Bulletin declared that the Poles should be as proud of me as the Germans are of Mozart; obvious nonsense.

Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties.

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

To be a great composer requires immense experience... One acquires this by listening not only to other men's work, but above all to one's own!

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.