Good composers don't borrow, they steal

Art is the opposite of chaos. Art is organized chaos.

The trick is to compose what one wants to compose and to get it commissioned afterward.

Conformism is so hot on the heels of the mass-produced avant-garde that the 'ins' and the 'outs' change places with the speed of mach 3.

Silence, which will save from shame, will also deprive me of fame.

I take no pride in my artistic talents; they are God-given and I see absolutely no reason to become puffed up over something that one has received.

I was born out of due time in the sense that by temperament and talent I should have been more suited for the life of a small Bach, living in anonymity and composing regularly for an established service and for God.