A great work is made out of a combination of obedience and liberty.

As far as the execution is concerned ... the most frequent and most serious mistake is to follow the music instead of preceding it.

False notes can be forgiven, false music cannot.

Do not take up music unless you would rather die than not do so.

The Constitution of the United States is not a mere lawyers' document; it is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of the age.

Without a strong cup to carry the emotion, it is only a curiosity. Great art can come to us only in strong cups. Without emotion, there is nothing to carry.

It is nothing to succeed if one has not taken great trouble, and it is nothing to fail if one has done the best one could.