Remember, there are more people in the world than yourself. Be modest! You have not yet invented nor thought anything which others have not thought or invented before. And should you really have done so, consider it a gift of heaven which you are to share with others.

My heart pounds sickeningly and I turn pale... I often feel as if I were dead... I seem to be losing my mind.

Think it a vile habit to alter works of good composers, to omit parts of them, or to insert new-fashioned ornaments. This is the greatest insult you can offer to Art.

Music owes as much to Bach as religion to its founder.

Nothing right can be accomplished in art without enthusiasm.

For me Wagner is impossible... he talks without ever stopping. One can't just talk all the time.

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.