One would give generous alms if one had the eyes to see the beauty of a cupped receiving hand.

Before you can do something, you must first be something.

Music, in the best sense, does not require novelty; nay, the older it is, and the more we are accustomed to it, the greater its effect.

Men show their character in nothing more clearly than what they think laughable.

A genuine work of art usually displeases at first sight, as it suggests a deficiency in the spectator.

He who only tastes his error will long dwell with it, will take delight in it as in a singular felicity; while he who drains it to the dregs will, if he be not crazy, find it to be what it is.

If you have a great work in your head, nothing else thrives near it; all other thoughts are repelled, and the pleasure of life itself is for the time lost.