One should never forget that by actually perfecting one piece one gains and learns more than by starting or half-finishing a dozen.

One should never forget that by actually perfecting one piece one gains and learns more than by starting or half-finishing a dozen.

Straightaway the ideas flow in upon me, directly from God.

In him converge all previous streams of tendency, not as into a pool, stagnant, passive, motionless, but as a noble river that received its tributary waters and bearss them onward in larger and statelier volume.

My things really are written with an appalling lack of practicality!

The fact that most people do not understand and respect the very best things, such as Mozart's concertos, is what permits men like us to become famous.

Composers in the old days used to keep strictly to the base of the theme, as their real subject. Beethoven varies the melody, harmony and rhythms so beautifully.