The principal mark of genius is not perfection, but originality.

My indifference to money and my spendthrift ways are disgraceful. You have no idea how reckless I am; how often I practically throw money out of the window. I am always making good resolutions, but the next minute I forget and give the waiter eightpence.

You will be most readily cured of vanity or presumption by studying the history of music, and by hearing the master pieces which have been produced at different periods.

Does it not seem as if Mozart's works become fresher and fresher the oftener we hear them?

Let your intimate friends be chosen from such as are better informed than yourself.

In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of.

Send light to the dark hearts of men, that is the duty the artist.