Where the heart does not enter; there can be no music.

A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood.

The creative process is like music which takes root with extraordinary force and rapidity

Brahms stayed an extra day to hear my [Fifth] Symphony and was very kind ... I like his honesty and open-mindedness. Neither he nor the players liked the finale, which I also think rather horrible.

I have put my whole soul into this work [The Pathetique Symphony] . . . You cannot imagine what joy I feel at the thought that my days are not yet over and that I may still accomplish much.

Mozart is the highest, the culminating point that beauty has attained in the sphere of music.

The muse doesn't come without being called.