Yet it was impossible for me to say to people, 'Speak louder, shout, for I am deaf.' Ah, how could I possibly admit an infirmity in the one sense which ought to be more perfect in me than others, a sense which I once possessed in the highest perfection, a perfection such as few in my profession enjoy or ever have enjoyed.

I have always reckoned myself among the greatest admirers of Mozart, and shall do so till the day of my death.

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

Artists who have won fame are often embarrassed by it; thus their first works are often their best.

Strange, I feel as if up to now I had written no more than a few notes.

What is to reach the heart must come from above; if it does not come from thence, it will be nothing but notes, body without spirit.

I shall seize fate by the throat.