I carry my thoughts about me for a long time, often a very long time, before I write them down; meanwhile my memory is so faithful that I am sure never to forget, not even in years, a theme that has once occurred to me.

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

Music can change the world.

The foundation of friendship demands the greatest likeness of human souls and hearts.

Music is mediator between spiritual and sensual life.

My heart is full of many things there are moments when I feel that speech is nothing after all.

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.