I am a fool. That is well known.

Silence is very important. The silence between the notes are as important as the notes themselves.

I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.

Our riches, being in our brains, die with us... Unless of course someone chops off our head, in which case, we won't need them anyway.

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

Music is my life and my life is music. Anyone who does not understand this is not worthy of God.

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.