My Fatherland Has Always The First Claim

I Cannot Write In Verse, For I Am No Poet. I Cannot Arrange The Parts Of Speech With Such Art As To Produce Effects Of Light And Shade, For I Am No Painter. Even By Signs And Gestures I Cannot Express My Thoughts And Feelings, For I Am No Dancer. But I Can Do So By Means Of Sounds, For I Am A Musician.

Music Is My Life And My Life Is Music. Anyone Who Does Not Understand This Is Not Worthy Of God.

Nevertheless The Passions, Whether Violent Or Not, Should Never Be So Expressed As To Reach The Point Of Disgust.

God First, Then Papa.

Patience And Tranquility Of Mind Contribute More To Cure Our Distempers As The Whole Art Of Medicine