Author of quotes: Gustav Mahler

In Bach, the vital cells of music are united like peace in God.

Short pieces are easier to achieve the desired result.

I don't choose what I compose. He chooses me.

This should be the only desire to see everything in a new way and create anew.

But this is strange, as soon as I find myself alone among nature, everything low and trivial disappears without a trace. Nothing scares me on days like this; and it helps me over and over again.

Melodic ingenuity is one of the surest signs of a divine gift.

You must give up all superficiality, all conventions, all vanity and delusion.

Never allow yourself to be guided by the opinion of your contemporaries. Keep going your own way.

That which attracts us with its mystical power; what every created thing, even the stones itself, feels with absolute certainty as the center of its being ... is the power of love. Christians call this "eternal bliss." It is necessary for a person to grow and be happy.

I bang my head against the walls, but the walls are crumbling.

It's funny, but when I write music, all the answers I look for in life seem to be there, in the music. Rather, I must say that when I am making music, I have no questions and no need for answers.

The point is not to perceive world opinion as a guiding star, but to go your own way in life and work faultlessly, not being overwhelmed by failures and not being tempted by applause.

If a composer could express in words what he had to say, he would not bother trying to express it in music.

The Symphony should be like the Universe. It should all be there.