If I weren't the way I am, I shouldn't write my symphonies.

With the coming of spring, I am calm again.

An operetta is simply a small and gay opera.

For the last month I have been a strict vegetarian. The moral effects of this regime are immense, owing to the voluntary subjugation of the flesh and the resulting absence of desires. You will appreciate how full I am of this idea when I tell you that I expect it to work the regeneration of mankind. I advise you to change over to a natural way of life, with proper nourishment (wholemeal bread), and you will soon feel the benefit.

Discipline, work. Work, discipline.

It is strange how one feels drawn forward without knowing at first where one is going.

The spirit can assert itself only through the medium of clear form.