Igor Stravinsky

"The only finger that matters is the one on the conductor's baton."

"I have nothing to say and I am saying it."

"You will ask me why I do not write always in the same manner; this is because I do not repeat myself."

"A creative artist works on his next composition because he was not satisfied with his last one."

"The more art is controlled, lit up, and guarded by reason, the more it will flourish."

"Genius is not a mysterious gift, it is a love affair with the work."

"I love tradition. It is the illusion of permanence."

"My father is a policeman, my mother is a policeman's wife, and I am destined to be just like them."

"Music should be listened to with your eyes closed and your heart open."

"The public doesn't want what I write, but eventually they come to accept it."

"To be white is to be the color of experience; to be black is to be the color of tomorrow."

"A stork flies over Paris."

"The more one separates the individual from his social group the more the individual comes into his own."

"I am interested only in my own work."

"The principle of composing is what matters."

"Tonality is not dying; it is being renewed."

"How appallingly thorough these Germans are. Here I am only in my second week and they have classified me into the correct educational category."

"I compose to please myself, and those who find themselves pleased by it are merely happy coincidences."

"Work hard, work fast, work as much as you can."

"A good composer does not imitate; he steals."

"The rhythm of the work is the most important element."

"One has a nose. One can look. One can listen. And that is just about all one can do."

"The past is inevitable and permanent, but the future is what we can change."

"I do not choose what comes to me, but rather I choose how I work with it."

"Inspiration is not the unique prerogative of the poet; it visits the composer, the sculptor, and the painter."

"Art is not something that does not repeat itself; it always repeats itself."

"The more you practice, the better you become at your craft."

"I cannot understand why the world is so fascinated with me. I am just a simple composer."

"To know music is to know happiness."

"One must be very patient and persistent in one's work."