The ear is the avenue to the heart.

The first step, my son, which one makes in the world, is the one on which depends the rest of our days.

We know that all the arts are brothers, that each of them illuminates another, and that a universal light results.

Your destiny is that of a man, your vows those of a god.

The sentiment of justice is so natural, and so universally acquired by all mankind, that it seems to be independent of all law, all party, all religion.

It is impossible to translate poetry. Can you translate music?

I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our more stupid melancholy propensities, for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one’s very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?