Richard Wagner
Revolutionary opera composer, Gesamtkunstwerk
Most quoted
"The error in the art-genre of Opera consists herein: that a Means of expression (Music) has been made the end, while the End of expression (the Drama) has been made a means."
— from Opera and Drama, 1851
"The destiny of us musicians is to be the first artists to disappear from this earth; for after all, what have we got to do with a world from which beauty is vanishing?"
— from Letter
"Where the world is nothing but a dream, there is no need for a world to be. But where the world is a dream, there is a need for a world to be dreamed."
— from Letters
All quotes by Richard Wagner (411)
Imagination creates the image, and the image creates the deed.
Where the speech of man stops short, there music begins.
Music is the language of passion.
The artist is the prophet of the future.
The true work of art is that which is born of the heart and speaks to the heart.
My art is not for the public, but for the few who understand me.
The highest form of art is drama, because it unites all the arts.
The deepest secret of the human soul is its longing for the infinite.
The artist is the conscience of mankind.
True art is not a luxury, but a necessity.
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Only those who are truly free can create true art.
The greatest joy is to give joy to others.
The world needs heroes, and I am one of them.
My music is not for the faint of heart.
The true artist creates for eternity, not for the moment.
Love is the source of all true art.
The artist must be a revolutionary.
The human heart is a bottomless abyss.
My art is a religion.
Contemporaries of Richard Wagner
Other Musics born within 50 years of Richard Wagner (1813–1883).