Quotes By Gustav Mahler

Discipline, work. Work, discipline.

Behind me the branches of a wasted and sterile existence are cracking.

Never let oneself be guided by the opinion of one's contemporaries. Continue steadfastly on one's way.

If you think you're boring your audience, go slower not faster.

I was a crazy young man who let himself be blinded by his passions and obeyed only the impulses of the moment.

Even if people censure me, they should do so hat in hand.

It is strange how one feels drawn forward without knowing at first where one is going.

You must renounce all superficiality, all convention, all vanity and delusion.

The longer you live and the more you learn, the more clearly you will feel the difference between the few men who are truly great and the mere virtuosi.

In its beginnings, music was merely chamber music, meant to be listened to in a small space by a small audience.

I beg of you... never assume an inner or an outer pose, never a disguise.

In the theatrical works we love and admire the most, the ending of the drama generally takes place offstage.

I have become a different person. I don't know whether this person is better, he certainly is not happier.

When I have reached a summit, I leave it with great reluctance, unless it is to reach for another, higher one.

Melodic invention is one of the surest signs of a divine gift.

An operetta is simply a small and gay opera.

Beauty and fullness of tone can be achieved by having the whole orchestra play with high clarinets and a carefully selected number of piccolos.

I don't let myself get carried away by my own ideas - I abandon 19 out of 20 of them every day.

Spring won't let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again.

Don't bother looking at the view - I have already composed it.

I hope you will no longer accuse me of a lack of delicacy. as I now count on your understanding.

The spirit can assert itself only through the medium of clear form.

Fortunately, something always remains to be harvested. So let us not be idle.

If I weren't the way I am, I shouldn't write my symphonies.

What I wanted and what I visualized while composing has not always been realized.

Destiny smiles upon me but without making me the least bit happier.

A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.

All that is not perfect down to the smallest detail is doomed to perish.

The real art of conducting consists in transitions.

I live like a Hottentot. I cannot exchange one sensible word with anyone.