It was an unforgettable picture to see Chopin sitting at the piano like a clairvoyant, lost in his dreams; to see how his vision communicated itself through his playing, and how, at the end of each piece, he had the sad habit of running one finger over the length of the plaintive keyboard, as though to tear himself forcibly away from his dream.

When you play, do not trouble yourself as to who is listening. Yet always play as though a master listened to you.

From a pound of iron, that costs little, a thousand watch-springs can be made, whose value becomes prodigious. The pound you have received from the Lord,--use it faithfully.

A fiery, good beginner always stands higher than a master in mediocrity.

To compose is to remember music that has never been written.

Mendelssohn I consider the first musician of the day; I doff my hat to him as my superior. He plays with everything, especially with the grouping of the instruments in the orchestra, but with such ease, delicacy and art, with such mastery throughout.

We may be sure that a genius like Mozart, were he born today, would write concertos like Chopin and not like Mozart.