Arnold Schoenberg

One must compose for oneself, not for the public.

The twelve-tone technique is not a method, it is a law.

Life is a struggle, music is its consolation.

I have no enemies, only critics.

Form is the content's prison.

Genius is the ability to see the invisible.

Music should strike fire from the heart of man.

I compose because I am sad.

The public is always wrong.

Innovation is the enemy of tradition.

My works are not for the faint-hearted.

Time is the greatest teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.

Melody is the surface, harmony the depth.

I am a citizen of the world, but music is my country.

Critics are like eunuchs: they know how it's done, but can't do it themselves.

The future of music is in the emancipation of dissonance.

Happiness is the absence of striving.

I write music for the ear, not the eye.

Exile is the price of freedom.

Tradition is the great misleader.