Igor Stravinsky

"Every man has his moment of glory, but few recognize it when it arrives."

"The greatest love affair in my life has been with my art."

"Restraint is an art that few artists ever truly master."

"We are all of us servants to something greater than ourselves."

"The body moves, but the spirit dances."

"To understand music is to understand the nature of time itself."

"Pride in one's work is the seed of all great achievements."

"The truth about art is that it need not be true at all."

"In music, as in mathematics, the simplest solution is usually the most elegant."

"A life without art is like a day without sunshine."

"The greatest impediment to progress is the illusion that we have already arrived."

"The public doesn't want new music; the main thing it demands of a composer is that he be dead."

"A filmmaker has almost the same freedom as a novelist in the past to pursue a personal vision."

"The more laws and order are made prominent in society, the less attention has to be paid to the needs of each individual citizen."

"One does not notate the madness of all men, but rather the madness of one man."

"I have nothing to say and I am saying it and that is poetry."

"The way one approaches a problem is more important than its solution."

"To tend, to serve—that is to speak to the needs of others before one's own."

"The talent of a composer is shown in his power to invent melodies that remain beautiful through eternal repetition."

"I like composers from the past, but people seem to find those who make more noise."

"A Russian man is a holy fool; a Russian woman is even holier in her foolishness."

"Inspirations come as a gift, but you must be ready to receive them."

"The more we analyze, the more we separate ourselves from the work of art."

"One cannot discuss music in words; words do not reach music."

"I had another dream—that I was conducting an orchestra, but I was not myself; I was someone else."

"To be perfectly honest, I have come to the conclusion that music is no longer my native language."

"The spectator who has not studied an art cannot judge it."

"Our family is always there for us, even when the world falls away."

"A man is a creature made up of desire and habit; these two things determine his actions."

"I shall hate happy ends. I want the tragedy of life."