My Fatherland Has Always The First Claim

When I Am At Peace With Myself . . . Then Thoughts Flow Into Me Most Easily And At Their Best. Where They Come From And How - That I Cannot Say . . . I'd Be Willing To Work Forever And Forever If I Were Permitted To Write Only Such Music As I Want To Write And Can Write - Which I Myself Think Good.

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.

Neither Rejoice Nor Lament Prematurely; For Whatever May Happen, All Will Be Well If We Only Have Health; For Happiness Exists--merely In The Imagination.

Silence Is Very Important. The Silence Between The Notes Are As Important As The Notes Themselves.

I Am Never Happier Than When I Have Something To Compose, For That, After All, Is My Sole Delight And Passion