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

Fatherland before everything, art afterward.

Beginnings play their prized part in every finished human accomplishment, for beginnings mean the birth of added progress.

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.

There have been a few moments when I have known complete satisfaction, but only a few. I have rarely been free from the disturbing realization that my playing might have been better.

If I do not practice one day; I know it. If I do not practice the next, the orchestra knows it; if I do not practice the third day, the whole world knows it.

Man is naturally lazy, therefore he invents labor-saving devices.