Franz Schubert
Master of the art song (Lied)
Most quoted
"I am the unhappiest, most wretched man in the world. Imagine a man whose health will never be right again, and who in sheer despair over this, always makes things worse instead of better; imagine a man, I say, whose most brilliant hopes have come to naught, to whom the happiness of love and friendship offers nothing but the bitterest pain, and whose enthusiasm for the beautiful (at least inspiring) threatens to vanish; and ask yourself, is he not a wretched, unhappy man?"
— from Letter to Leopold Kupelwieser, 1824
"Oh, imagination! Thou greatest treasure of man, thou inexhaustible fount of all art and science! How many friends have I gained through thee, how many enemies hast thou made for me!"
— from Diary entry, 1816
"Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken."
— from Letter, 1826
All quotes by Franz Schubert (370)
The world is but a stage, and music its timeless script.
I find my greatest joy in the simplest tunes.
Harmony binds us to the divine.
My impromptus are whispers from the heart.
To compose is to converse with the infinite.
My compositions are born of my understanding of music and my suffering.
I never force myself to compose. When I don't feel like it, I don't compose.
I am a poor musician, but I am a good one.
I have no friends, no one to confide in, no one to share my joy or sorrow with.
I am the most unhappy, the most wretched man in the world.
My music is the product of my genius and my misery.
I am always composing, always working, always striving for something better.
I have no hope, no future, no prospect of happiness.
I am a stranger everywhere, an outcast, a wanderer.
My music is my only comfort, my only solace.
I am a solitary man, a lonely soul.
I am a musician, and I must compose.
I am a poor man, but I am rich in spirit.
My music is my life, my passion, my everything.
I am a dreamer, a visionary, a poet of sound.
Contemporaries of Franz Schubert
Other Musics born within 50 years of Franz Schubert (1797–1828).