To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist.

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

The poet sees better than other mortals. I do not see things as they are, but according to my own subjective impression, and this makes life easier and simpler.

"We liked it" or "I didn't like it" people say. As if it were nothing higher than to please the people!

Nothing right can be accomplished in art without enthusiasm.

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.

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