The century is advanced, but every individual begins afresh.

One cannot develop taste from what is of average quality but only from the very best.

A great artist... must be shaken by the naked truths that will not be comforted. This divine discontent, this disequilibrium, this state of inner tension is the source of artistic energy.

Happiness is a ball after which we run wherever it rolls, and we push it with our feet when it stops.

Superstition is rooted in a much deeper and more sensitive layer of the psyche than skepticism.

There is nothing new on earth / For a person who lives long and experiences much. / In my years of youthful wandering / I have seen crystallized people.

The effects of good music are not just because it's new; on the contrary music strikes us more the more familiar we are with it.