Never compose anything unless the not composing of it becomes a positive nuisance to you.

There is no room in music for the second-rate - it might just as well be the nineteenth-rate.

Music-making as a means of getting money is hell

Never compose anything unless the not composing of it becomes a positive nuisance to you.

Music, being identical with heaven, isn't a thing of momentary thrills, or even hourly ones. It's a condition of eternity.

I’ve learned what ‘classical’ means. It means something that sings and dances through sheer joy of existence.

Always ask for advice but never take it.