Igor Stravinsky

"Listening to bad music is like reading bad poetry."

"Form is the shape that understanding takes."

"The public doesn't know what it wants until you tell them."

"Great artists steal; they don't borrow."

"A melody is not merely something to remember; it is a universe in itself."

"The old masters understood the importance of limits; we moderns do not."

"Invention requires courage and sacrifice."

"Be patient with the process of becoming who you're meant to be."

"Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd."

"The right notes at the wrong time never become the right notes."

"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."

"Order is the slightest of necessities; beauty is the highest."

"A composer is a fellow who goes home humming the work of someone else."

"The world was made for those who are not afraid of solitude."

"What we call 'easy listening' is often the hardest to listen to."

"I cannot understand the negativity toward polyphonic music."

"The process is more important than the product."

"Every age has deemed important what the next age has deemed unimportant."

"I am neither for nor against myself."

"Rhythm is not something that exists independently in time."

"The best music is often unheard; the best art is often unseen."

"To be conscious is to suffer."

"Evolution in art does not mean progress; it means change."

"A composer is a fellow who goes home humming a work of his own."

"Silence can be more eloquent than words."

"The artist must choose what will nourish his or her talent."

"Those who do not study music are deaf to truth."

"Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life."

"The heart wants what it wants; the mind thinks what it must."