When everything has its proper place in our minds, we are able to stand in equilibrium with the rest of the world.

The musician of the present day, not being able to give us what is beautiful, torments himself to give us what is new.

Our systems, perhaps, are nothing more than an unconscious apology for our faults, a gigantic scaffolding whose object is to hide from us our favorite sin.

Composition is a process of combination, in which thought puts together complementary truths, and talent fuses into harmony the most contrary qualities of style. So that there is no composition without effort, without pain even, as in all bringing forth. The reward is the giving birth to something living--something, that is to say, which, by a kind of magic, makes a living unity out of such opposed attributes as orderliness and spontaneity, thought and imagination, solidity and charm.

The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life, and you must accept regret.

True love is that which ennobles the personality, fortifies the heart, and sanctifies the existence.

There is no respect for others without humility in one's self.