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)
I am a lonely man, but my art is my companion.
The future belongs to my art.
My art is a revelation.
I am a German artist, and I serve my nation.
You are the light of my life, my eternal love.
Bayreuth is the fulfillment of my dreams.
My art is a gift to the world.
My art is my destiny.
Children, create something new!
My whole life has been a search for the true, the beautiful, the good.
Art is the most beautiful of all lies.
Music is the language of the soul.
Where there is no love, there is no truth.
The artist is the true priest.
Revolution is the highest act of art.
The true artist creates for the people, not for the market.
Only through suffering does one attain knowledge.
My art is not for the masses, but for the few.
The German spirit is the spirit of freedom.
The Jew is the plastic demon of the decay of mankind.
Contemporaries of Richard Wagner
Other Musics born within 50 years of Richard Wagner (1813–1883).