Frédéric Chopin
Poet of the piano, transformed piano music
Most quoted
"One needs only to study a certain positioning of the hand in relation to the keys to obtain with ease the most beautiful sounds, to know how to play long notes and short notes and to [attain] certain unlimited dexterity... A well formed technique, it seems to me, [is one] that can control and vary a beautiful sound quality."
— from Prose writings
"Paris is whatever you want it to be. You can amuse yourself, be bored, laugh, cry, do whatever you like, and no one will so much as look at you, because thousands of others are doing exactly the same thing, each in his own way."
— from Letter, 1831
"When one does a thing, it appears good, otherwise one would not write it. Only later comes reflection, and one discards or accepts the thing. Time is the best censor, and patience a most excellent teacher."
— from Attributed remark
All quotes by Frédéric Chopin (369)
I am a man of spirit, and I connect with the divine.
I am a man of soul, and I express my true self.
I am a man of heart, and I feel deeply.
I am a man of mind, and I think critically.
I am a man of body, and I experience the world through my senses.
Bach is an astronomer, discovering the most wonderful stars. Beethoven is a conqueror, scaling the highest peaks. I am a mere pianist, playing a few notes in the moonlight.
Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a immense number of notes and many notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.
The piano is my alter ego. It is my confidant, my friend, my everything.
I am not a revolutionary. I am a conservative. I want to preserve the old forms, but I want to fill them with new life.
I wish I could throw off the thoughts which poison my happiness, but I cannot. And yet I will not be miserable, but I will be happy.
I am a Pole, and I will always be a Pole.
The public is a monster that devours everything.
I would rather be a composer than a pianist.
I am not suited for concerts. The crowd intimidates me. I feel suffocated by the breath of the public.
I am not a man of the world. I am a man of the piano.
I never practice. I always play.
I am a sick man, but I am a happy man.
I have no desire to be famous. I only want to be understood.
I am not a Romantic. I am a Classicist.
I am not a revolutionary. I am an evolutionist.
Contemporaries of Frédéric Chopin
Other Musics born within 50 years of Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849).