"I have no friend. I must live alone. I know that I am closer to God than other artists; I commune with Him in my art."

"A musician is a musician because he lives the music. Not just plays it. But lives it. And if he doesn't live it, he is nothing."

"Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend."

"Ah, it seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt called upon to produce."

"The only way to make a joke is to be serious."