“How much one has to do to leave town with a few dollars! ...I arrive home, dead tired, at 11 or 12 o'clock [at night], gulp a mouthful of water, lie down and think, Is an artist much more than a be...”

— Clara Schumann

“I’ve been playing the songs by Liszt, with which you so surprised me, with great enthusiasm, especially Gretchen, Erlkönig, and Sei mir gegrüßt. Is Liszt coming to Vienna in the summer? Thalberg as...”

— Clara Schumann

“Music is now quite another thing for me than it used to be. How blissful, how full of longing it sounds; it is indescribable ... I could wear myself out now at the piano, my heart is eased by the t...”

— Clara Schumann

“I stood at the body of my dearly loved husband and was calm; all my feelings were of thankfulness to God that he was finally free, and as I knelt at his bed I had such a holy feeling. It was as if ...”

— Clara Schumann

“My heart bled as I said goodnight to Felix and went to the concert. The contrast was so dreadful. Throughout the entire concert I saw only him, his emaciated body, his lifeless appearance, and alas...”

— Clara Schumann

“With the exception of Madame Schumann there is no woman and there will not be any women employed in the Conservatory. As for Madame Schumann, I count her as a man.”

— Clara Schumann

“Miss Fanny Davies, who was studying with Madame Schumann at the same time as myself, is a very good example of easy muscular movement and finely developed finger technique. Leschetizky was a fine t...”

— Clara Schumann

“Clara was sort of a modern woman in many ways, suffering the tension between her career and home life, because it was very important for her to keep playing concerts. On the other hand, she was [Ro...”

— Clara Schumann