To see itself through, music must have idea or magic. ... Music with neither dies young though rich.
Greatness is not the effect of which inspiration is the cause. We are all inspired, but we are all not great.
Bel canto is to opera what pole-vaulting is to ballet.
Minor artists borrow, great ones steal.
There are no fascinating people, only their works are fascinating.
The beautiful are shyer than the ugly, for they move in a world that does not ask for beauty.