BY ROBERT SCHUMANN.
"Above all things, persevere in composing mentally, not with the help of the instrument, and keep on turning and twisting the principal melodies about in your head until you can say to yourself, 'Now it will do.' To hit upon the right thing all in a moment, as it were, does not happen every day, and the sketch-books of great composers, especially Beethoven, prove how long and how laboriously they often worked at a simple melody, and kept on improving upon it."
"The artist who refuses to recognize the efforts of his contemporaries may be looked upon as lost."
"It is good to change one's usual groove for fresh surroundings."
"Though, as you are aware, we musicians often dwell on sunny heights, yet when the unhappiness of life comes before our eyes, in all its naked ugliness, it hurts us all the more."
"Mind you get into the habit of thinking of music with ease in your own mind, and not with the assistance of the piano; only in this way are the fountains of the heart opened and brought out in ever greater clearness and purity. The principal thing is that the musician should keep the ear of his mind clear."
"It is not praise that causes the exultation of the artist, but joy that what he has felt himself finds harmonious echoes in men's hearts."
"I am anxious to help all young and honestly-striving artists, and that is only possible by a frank expression of opinion."
"I hate at all times any mode of instigating public opinion by the artist himself. What is strong enough works its own way."
