Inspiration is an awakening, a quickening of all man's faculties, and it is manifested in all high artistic achievements.

The music of this opera (Madame Butterfly) was dictated to me by God. I was merely instrumental in getting it on paper and communicating it to the public.

Inspiration is an awakening, a quickening of all man's faculties, and it is manifested in all high artistic achievements.

I lived for art, I lived for love

See, the night doth enfold us! See, all the world lies sleeping!

The work comes into the world at an undetermined hour, from a still unknown, but it comes inevitably.

Art is a kind of illness.