What will people say-in these words lies the tyranny of the world, the whole destruction of our natural disposition, the oblique vision of our minds. These four words hold sway everywhere.

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.

Success teaches us nothing only failure teaches.

I would never slay the dragon, because the dragon was also me.

Two grand slams in a week - man, that's seven or eight ribbies right there.

I love being in the ocean. I love the unpredictability of it- size of wave, animals you see, etc.

Most people can do nothing at all well

I think if people really want music they'll search it out.

Travel is the excitement of life! Everything is an adventure, and if you look at it like that, even at the worst moment you can say: 'We will laugh tomorrow about this.' And you do.

His three wives are huddled together on the bare mattress, one of them dying; when we're together, we form an alliance he can't touch. He's scared to even try.

Once you decide to gut a fish, there's no use waiting till it rots.

Testing of self is a regular part of our own lives, so it seems natural to make it a part of the lives of my characters, as well, albeit on a much different level.