Frederic Chopin Quotes

The last thing is simplicity. After having gone through all the difficulties, having played an endless number of notes, it is simplicity that matters, with all its charm. It is the final seal on Art. Anyone who strives for this to begin with will be disappointed. You cannot begin at the end.

I’m a revolutionary, money means nothing to me.

Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties.

As long as I have health and strength, I will gladly work all my days.

Oh, how miserable it is to have no one to share your sorrows and joys, and, when your heart is heavy, to have no soul to whom you can pour out your woes.

Nothing is more odious than music without hidden meaning.

The crowd intimidates me, its breath suffocates me. I feel paralyzed by its curious look, and the unknown faces make me dumb.

Man is never always happy, and very often only a brief period of happiness is granted him in this world; so why escape from this dream which cannot last long?

I shall create a new world for myself.

Sometimes I can only groan, and suffer, and pour out my despair at the piano.

Time is the best of critics; and patience the best of teachers.

Oh, how hard it must be to die anywhere but in one’s birthplace.

Put all your soul into it, play the way you feel!

I tell my piano the things I used to tell you

Bach is like an astronomer who, with the help of ciphers, finds the most wonderful stars . . . Beethoven embraced the universe with the power of his spirit . . . I do not climb so high. A long time ago I decided that my universe will be the soul and heart of man.

Nothing is more beautiful than a guitar, except, possibly two.

The three most celebrated doctors on the island have been to see me. One sniffed at what I spat, the second tapped where I spat from, and the third sounded me and listened as I spat. The first said I was dead, the second that I was dying and the third that I’m going to die.

Even in winter it shall be green in my heart.