Antonio Stradivari

"I do not create for applause; I create for truth."

"The violin teaches that perfection is a journey, not a destination."

"To understand beauty, one must first understand simplicity."

"I have given my life to wood and sound; they have given me immortality."

"The greatest violins are those that humble the greatest musicians."

"In craftsmanship, there are no shortcuts to perfection."

"The violin is the voice of God given to man."

"A master knows that mastery is endless."

"To create beauty is to participate in creation itself."

"The wood remembers the tree; the violin remembers the wood."

"I have learned more from failure than from success."

"The violin requires the whole man: hand, heart, and mind."

"To be patient is to cooperate with time itself."

"A violin, properly made, will never die."

"The master craftsman is defined by his standards, not his reputation."

"In music and in life, timing is everything."

"The violin teaches that constraint breeds freedom."

"To make is to pray; to play is to answer."

"I believe in the democracy of beauty—it belongs to all who can hear."

"The finest instrument comes from the finest spirit."

"A violin is a conversation between maker and player and listener."

"To pursue excellence is to pursue life itself."

"The wood grain is nature's own design; the craftsman merely reveals it."

"I make violins to sing the songs that souls cannot speak."

"To be forgotten is to be truly immortal."

"The violin knows no master but truth and beauty."

"In every stroke of the plane lies a meditation."

"To create is to affirm that life has meaning."

"The instrument does not make the musician; the musician reveals the instrument."

"I have spent eighty years learning what a violin is; I am still learning."