Only the flint of a man's mind can strike fire in music.

I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose.

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

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.

He that divines the secret of my music is freed from the unhappiness that haunts the whole world of men.

There is no loftier mission than to approach the Godhead more nearly than other mortals, and by means of that contact to spread the rays of the Godhead through the human race.

In the world of art, as in the whole of creation, freedom and progress are the main objectives.