The Great don't innovate, they fertilize seeds planted by lackeys, they leave to others the inhaling of the flowers whose roots they've manured. A deceptive memory may be the key to their originality.

Art's the biggest vanity: the assumption that one's view of peace or fright or beauty is permanently communicable.

Artists, by definition innocent, don't steal. But they do borrow without giving back.

I don't go to concerts much. I've heard everything. When I do go to movies, I walk out half the time. As for literature, I've read everything.

Bel canto is to opera what pole-vaulting is to ballet.

The art of translation lies less in knowing the other language than in knowing your own.

Music is the sole art which evokes nostalgia for the future.