Is it not enough that we cannot make one another happy, must we also rob one another of the pleasures that any heart may permit itself now and then? And name me a person who in a bad mood will be decent enough to hide it, to bear it alone, without destroying the joy around him. Is it not rather an inner dissatisfaction with our own unworthiness, a dislike of ourselves that is always associated with envy aggravated by foolish conceit? We see people happy and not made happy by us, and that is unbearable.

Hold your powers together for something good and let everything go that is for you without result and is not suited to you.

Misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than malice and wickedness.

Shakespeare is dangerous to young poets; they cannot but reproduce him, while they fancy that they produce themselves.

I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.

Music is either sacred or secular. The sacred agrees with its dignity, and here has its greatest effect on life, an effect that remains the same through all ages and epochs. Secular music should be cheerful throughout.

The older we get the more we must limit ourselves if we wish to be active.