Poverty sits by the cradle of all our great men and rocks all of them to manhood.

Life is the greatest of blessings and death the worst of evils.... all great, powerful souls love life.

I do not know the meaning of my sadness; there is an old fairy tale that I cannot get out of my mind.

The people have no ear, either for rhythm or music, and their unnatural passion for pianoforte playing and singing is thus all the more repulsive. There is nothing on earth more terrible than English music, except English painting.

The propaganda of communism possesses a language which every people can understand. Its elements are simply hunger, envy, death.

There is one thing on earth more terrible than English music, and that is English painting.

God will forgive me. It's his job." Heine said this on his deathbed (1856). Hilarious. He must have thought that up years before and counted the seconds to use it.