We mortals with immortal minds are only born for sufferings and joys, and one could almost say that the most excellent receive joy through sufferings.

Whoever tells a lie is not pure of heart, and such a person can not cook a clean soup.

Life would be flat without music. It is the background to all I do. It speaks to the heart in its own special way like nothing else.

I can live only wholly with you or not at all.

This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble.

I am resolved to rise superior to every obstacle. With whom need I be afraid of measuring my strength? I will take Fate by the throat. It shall not overcome me. O how beautiful it is to be alive - would that I could live a thousand times!

Oh you men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn, or misanthropic, how greatly do you wrong me. You do not know the secret cause which makes me seem that way to you. Oh how harshly was I flung back by the doubly sad experience of my bad hearing.