“Does it not occur to people that I might be artificial by nature?”

“I did my work slowly, drop by drop. I tore it out of me by pieces.”

“The only love affair I have ever had was with music.”

“My intention here is to make it clear that not a single cell of my composition, here in regard to The Raven, is found by chance or intuition, that the composition moved towards perfection with the ...”

“We should always remember that sensitiveness and emotion constitute the real content of a work of art.”

“Then M. Ravel discussed another idea. That was that in these days of cacophony it might be quite an original idea for the orchestra to start, say, in C major, and then, through a series of discords...”

“I hug him tightly. I cant imagine my life without you, Christian. I love you so much it frightens me. Me, too, he breathes. My life would be empty without you. I love you so much.”

“Among my stillness was a pounding heart.”

“I take my hand back, like a leaf letting go. It hurts too much to hang on. So why does it hurt so much to let go?”

“The hobgoblin of a little mind may be the genius of a great one.”

“To force oneself to believe and to accept a thing without understanding is political, and not spiritual or intellectual.”

“It's difficult being an intellectual in a bread and butter sort of town.”