No mortal eye has ever fully seen a flash of lightning ... for no matter how firmly we look, our eyes are sure to be dazzled.

Years teach us more than books.

The little dissatisfaction which every artist feels at the completion of a work forms the germ of a new work.

To acquire money requires valor, to keep money requires prudence, and to spend money well is an art.

If you sound great in the practice room, you're practicing the wrong thing. Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Only he is free who cultivates his own thoughts and strives without fear to do justice to them.

In Nature there is no dirt, everything is in the right condition; the swamp and the worm, as well as the grass and the bird,-all is there for itself.

Of all afflictions, the worst is self contempt.

Discontent is the source of all trouble,but also of all progress, in individuals and nations.

To harbor hatred and animosity in the soul makes one irritable, gloomy, and prematurely old.

The silver-leaved birch retains in its old age a soft bark; there are some such men.

Marriage is sacred intimacy. The husband must love, feed and care for the family. The wife must love, respect and submit to the husband.

The human interpretation of a disability is a primitive departmentalized view of ignorance.

Pleasure that isn't paid for is as insipid as everything else that's free.

We should celebrate immigrants and everything they do for our country.

On the approach of spring, I withdraw without reluctance from the noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and dissipation without pleasure.

You fight like you train.

Hope is the seed of liberation.

Government is the agent of those who are too refined to do their own mugging.

And after drawing comes composition. A well-composed painting is half done

Find people who think like you and stick with them. Make only music you are passionate about. Work only with people you like and trust. Don't sign anything.