I was a God-fearing child, innocent and physically attractive.

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.

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

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.

My symphonies would have reached Opus 100 if I had but written them down... Sometimes I am so full of music, and so overflowing with melody, that I find it simply impossible to write down anything.

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

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