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

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

We have learned to express the more delicate nuances of feeling by penetrating more deeply into the mysteries of harmony.

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.

If, while at the piano, you attempt to form little melodies, that is very well; but if they come into your mind of themselves, when you are not practising, you may be still more pleased; for the internal organ of music is then roused in you. The fingers must do what the head desires; not the contrary.

We shouldn't repeat the same for ages on end, but look into the new as well.

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.