Treasures are no longer to be got by instrumental art.

Why hurry over beautiful things? Why not linger and enjoy them?

I once believed that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea; a woman must not desire to compose — there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the one?

My imagination can picture no fairer happiness than to continue living for art.

Composing gives me great pleasure... there is nothing that surpasses the joy of creation, if only because through it one wins hours of self-forgetfulness, when one lives in a world of sound.

There is nothing greater than the joy of composing something oneself and then listening to it.

I wish to lead a life free from care, and I see that I shall be unhappy if I cannot always work at my art.

I will yield to popular demands only insofar as they do not betray my own convictions.

I do not want horses or diamonds - I am happy in possessing you.

My health may be better preserved if I exert myself less, but in the end doesn't each person give his life for his calling?

If I have known much trouble in my youth, I have also known much joy.

The great works are produced in such an ecstasy of love that they must always be unworthy of it, however great their worth otherwise.

I think journalism gets measured by the quality of information it presents, not the drama or the pyretechnics associated with us

As for enlightenment, that's just for people who can't face reality.

I've taught Sunday school, I've sung in the choir, I directed a choir.

You have to be smart enough to see the world for yourself and honest. The whole book-publicity thing is not really honest, at base.

Yeah, I try to be really calm.

There are some nights when you just want to know there's someone else besides you in this wide world.

1 out of 3 Americans says, "I hate my job." 80-plus percent say, "I'm ill-equipped and unenthused about my work."

I don't want to write every week, it's too much trouble, and I shall only write when I want something. If you think I'm sick when I don't write, you can send for me to come and tell you.

Considering yourself a feminist doesn't make you one. Being an empathic human who can see both sides of a coin is feminism's true essence.