I carry my thoughts about with me for a long time... before writing them down... once I have grasped a theme. I shall not forget it even years later. I change many things, discard others, and try again and again until I am satisfied; then, in my head... [the work] rises, it grows, I hear and see the image n front of me from every angle... and only the labor of writing it down remains... I turn my ideas into tones that resound, roar, and rage until at last they stand before me in the form of notes.

I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet.

The Music is the only corporeal introduction to the superior world of Knowledge.

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

Only art and science make us suspect the existence of life to a higher level, and maybe also instill hope thereof.

Rossini would have been a great composer if his teacher had spanked him enough on his backside.

Music is mediator between spiritual and sensual life.