The Russians imitate French ways, but always at a distance of fifty years.
On a cold winter morning a cigar fortifies the soul.
A wise woman never yields by appointment. It should always be an unforeseen happiness.
The first characteristic of Rossini's music is speed - a speed which removes from the soul all the sombre emotions that are so powerfully evoked within us by the slow strains in Mozart. I find also in Rossini a cool freshness, which, measure by measure, makes us smile with delight.
The more one pleases everybody, the less one pleases profoundly.
Every great action is extreme when it is undertaken. Only after it has been accomplished does it seem possible to those creatures of more common stuff.