Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.

Do you think I give a damn about your and your pathetic violin?

This is not a brook [Bach means "brook" in German], it's an ocean.

Don't only practise your art, but force your way into its secrets.

Only art and science can raise men to the level of God.

Of all my children, this is the one that cost me the worst birth-pangs and brought me the most sorrow; and for that reason it is the one most dear to me.

You're a happy fellow, for you'll give happiness and joy to many other people. There is nothing better or greater than that.