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.

I am so fresh in soul and spirit that life gushes and bubbles around me in a thousand springs.

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

You write to become immortal, or because the piano happens to be open, or you've looked into a pair of beautiful eyes.

Nothing right can be accomplished in art without enthusiasm.

Only when the form grows clear to you, will the spirit become so too.

I feel so entirely in my element with a full orchestra; even if my mortal enemies were marshalled before me, I could lead them, master them, surround them, or repulse them.