In an opera, the poetry must be the obedient daughter of music.

Versification is, indeed, indispensable for music, but rhyme, solely for rhyming's sake, most pernicious.

A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether he travels or not; but a man of superior talent (which I cannot deny myself to be without being impious) will go to pieces if he remains forever in the same place.

The taste of death is upon my lips.  I feel something that is not of this earth.

Believe me, I do not like idleness but work.

Melody is the essence of music. I compare a good melodist to a fine racer, and counterpoints to hack post-horses.

What's even worse than a flute? -- Two flutes!

Stay with me to-night; you must see me die. I have long had the taste of death on my tongue, I smell death, and who will stand by my Constanze, if you do not stay?

I assure you that without travel we (at least men of the arts and sciences) are miserable creatures. A man of mediocre talent will remain mediocre whether he travels or not; but one of superior talent (which I cannot deny that I am, without doing wrong) will go to seed if he remains continually in one place.

If you would dance, my pretty Count, I'll play the tune on my little guitar.

I cannot write in verse, for I am no poet. I cannot arrange the parts of speech with such art as to produce effects of light and shade, for I am no painter. Even by signs and gestures I cannot express my thoughts and feelings, for I am no dancer. But I can do so by means of sounds, for I am a musician.

The music is not in the notes,
but in the silence between.

I love it when an aria fits a singer as perfectly as a suit of well-tailored clothes.

You know that I immerse myself in music, so to speak-- that I think about it all day long-- that I like experimenting-- studying-- reflecting.

A bachelor, in my opinion, is only half alive.

The wonders of the music of the future will be of a higher and wider scale and will introduce many sounds that the human ear is now incapable of hearing. Among these new sounds will be the glorious music of angelic chorales. As men hear these they will cease to consider Angels as figments of their imagination.

I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.

How sad it is that these great gentlemen should believe what anyone tells them and do not choose to judge for themselves! But it is always so.

It is when I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer.....that ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how they come, I know not, nor can I force them.

I thank my God for graciously granting me the opportunity of learning that death is the key which unlocks the door to our true happiness.