As death, when we come to consider it closely, is the true goal of our existence . . .

The most necessary, most difficult and principal thing in music, that is time.

Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.

Handel understands effect better than any of us -- when he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt.

I cannot write in verse, for I am no poet. I cannot arrange the parts of speech with such art as to produce effects of light and shade, for I am no painter. Even by signs and gestures I cannot express my thoughts and feelings, for I am no dancer. But I can do so by means of sounds, for I am a musician.

Love guards the heart from the abyss.

True perfection in all things is no longer known or prized - you must write music that is either so simple a coachman could sing it, or so unintelligble that audiences like it simply because no sane person could understand it.