"I was in a state of gnawing,..." - Quote by Richard Wagner

“The language of tones belongs equally to all mankind, and melody is the absolute language in which the musician speaks to every heart.”

“Many's the man/ who thought himself wise/ but what he needed/ he did not know.”

“Life is earnest - and always has been.”

“Writing is busy idleness.”

“Look at life through the wrong end of the telescope.”

“In daily life what distinguishes the master is the using those materials he has, instead of looking about for what are more renowned, or what others have used well.”

“I must say the more interesting songs to me were the black ones because they were more simple.”

“As to...old composers like Schubert or Beethoven, I imagine that, while modern music expresses both feeling, thought and imagination, they expressed pure feeling. And you know all day sitting at work, eating, walking, etc., you have hundreds of feelings that can't be put into words. And that is why I think that in a sense music is the highest of the arts, because it really begins where the others leave off.”

“I don’t wanna have any other kind of job. I can’t work among people. I may as well try & make a career out of this. All my life my dream has been to be a big rock star - just may as well abuse it while you can.”