I do not believe, as do so many musicians, that genius should be left to fight its way to the light. Genius is too rare, too precious, to be permitted to waste the best years of life--the years of youth and lofty dreams--in a heart-breaking struggle for bread. To starve the soul with the body is to do worse than murder. Think, too, of what the public loses!

I am inclined to believe that some music, like certain poetry, finds its appeal and way to all.

Music is the only art that actually lives.

The culture of any country is gauged first by its progress in art.

Art is great only when it bears the stamp of the individual.

The very essence of success is practice.

Just as surely as every new language mastered opens up a new world, so knowledge of a Beethoven, a Chopin, or a Schumann opens up a new world in spiritual beauty and thought.