Oh, you happy sons of the North who have been reared at the bosom of Bach, how I envy you!

I have striven for perfection, it has always eluded me, but I surely had an obligation to make one more try.

Stupid criticism and still more stupid praise.

I deny that either singers or conductors can "create" or work creatively - this, as I have always said, is a conception that leads to the abyss.

Oh blessed a thousand times the peasant who is born, eats and dies without anybody bothering about his affairs.

The artist must yield himself to his own inspiraton, and if he has a true talent, no one knows and feels better than he what suits him.

To copy the truth can be a good thing, but to invent the truth is better, much better.