Many's the man/ who thought himself wise/ but what he needed/ he did not know.

My destiny is solitude, and my life is work.

We must learn to die, and to die in the fullest sense of the word. The fear of the end is the source of all lovelessness

Even if I know I shall never change the masses, never transform anything permanent, all I ask is that the good things also have their place, their refuge.

I write music with an exclamation point!

I believe in God, Mozart and Beethoven, and likewise their disciples and apostles; - I believe in the Holy Spirit and the truth of the one, indivisible Art; - I believe that this Art proceeds from God, and lives within the hearts of all illumined men.

Richard Wagner, a musician who wrote music which is better than it sounds.