Hector Berlioz

I have always been a man of destiny, and I have always followed my destiny.

The public is a monster that must be fed.

The artist must be a rebel, a revolutionary, a nonconformist.

Music is a gift that I am always grateful for.

I have always been a man of passion, and I have always lived my life with passion.

The public is a child that must be indulged.

The artist must be a genius, a madman, a fool.

Music is a dream that I can never fully awaken from.

The public is a monster that must be appeased.

Every composer knows the anguish and despair occasioned by forgetting ideas which one had no time to write down.

The orchestra is like a living being; it breathes, it pulses, it sings.

Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks, and invents.

I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us.

The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach—unless he's a musician, then it's through his ears.

Beethoven's music is music about music.

Life is a long symphony, full of discords and harmonies.

Inspiration is like a thief; it comes unbidden and leaves as quickly.

The public is like a large beast; it must be tamed with beauty.

Love is the eternal theme of all great music.

Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know what it's like to watch, but not to perform.