"People often complain that music is too ambiguous, that what they should think when they hear it is so unclear, whereas everyone understands words. With me, it is exactly the opposite, and not only with regard to an entire speech but also with individual words. These too seem to me so ambiguous, so vague, so easily misunderstood in comparison to genuine music, which fills the soul with a thousand things better than words."
"What a divine calling is music! Though everything else may appear shallow and repulsive, even the smallest task in music is so absorbing, and carries us so far away from town, country, earth, and all worldly things, that it is truly a blessed gift of God."
"Die erste Bedingung zu einem Künstler ist, dass er Respekt vor dem Großen habe und sich davor beuge und es anerkenne und nicht die großen Flammen auszupusten versuche, damit das kleine Talglicht ein wenig heller leuchte."
