Melodic invention is one of the surest signs of a divine gift.

Don't bother to look, I've composed all this already.

That which draws us by its mystical force; what every created thing, even the very stones, feels with absolute certainty as the center of its being... is the force of love. Christians call this "eternal blessedness." It is a necessity of man for growth and joy.

I beg of you... never assume an inner or an outer pose, never a disguise.

The longer you live and the more you learn, the more clearly you will feel the difference between the few men who are truly great and the mere virtuosi.

But it's peculiar, as soon as I am in the midst of nature and by myself, everything that is base and trivial vanishes without trace. On such days nothing scares me; and this helps me again and again.

I have become a different person. I don't know whether this person is better, he certainly is not happier.