The principal task of a conductor is not to put himself in evidence but to disappear behind his functions as much as possible. We are pilots, not servants.

A theatre receives recognition through its initiative, which is indispensable for first-rate performances.

I conclude that the Wagnerian operas which are already in the repertoire, and other masterworks as well, stand in no further need of my services.

I find little in the works of Beethoven, Berlioz, Wagner and others when they are led by a conductor who functions like a windmill.

It is my fervent wish and my greatest ambition to leave a work with a few useful instructions for the pianists after me.

Inspiration is enough to give expression to the tone in singing, especially when the song is without words.

We need improvement in the style of performance. There is no more advantage in a musician who plays and conducts than in one who is only a beater of rhythm.

As the mother teaches her children how to express themselves in their language, so one Gypsy musician teaches the other. They have never shown any need for notation.

Mournful and yet grand is the destiny of the artist.

A person of any mental quality has ideas of his own. This is common sense.

Real men are sadly lacking in this world, for when they are put to the test they prove worthless.

Companions, in misery and worse, that is what we all are, and to try to change this substantially avails us nothing.

The character of instrumental music… lets the emotions radiate and shine in their own character without presuming to display them as real or imaginary representations.

Broad paths are open to every endeavour, and a sympathetic recognition is assured to every one who consecrates his art to the divine services of a conviction of a consciousness.

The public is always good.

Without any assistance whatever, I founded a school in Weimar in 10 years. Only I could perform certain works with the scanty means that I dared not ask anyone else to work with.

The music of the Gypsies belongs in the sphere of improvisation rather than in any other, without which it would have no power to exist.

Beware of missing chances; otherwise it may be altogether too late some day.

Truth is a great flirt.

Brahms’ Variations are better than mine, but mine were written before his.

Music embodies feeling without forcing it to contend and combine with thought, as it is forced in most arts and especially in the art of words.

I foster a sorrowful conception of affection. Make no sacrifices.

Sorrowful and great is the artist’s destiny.

Supreme serenity still remains the Ideal of great Art. The shapes and transitory forms of life are but stages toward this Ideal, which Christ’s religion illuminates with His divine light.

It is impossible to imagine a more complete fusion with nature than that of the Gypsy.

In Hungary all native music, in its origin, is divided naturally into melody destined for song or melody for the dance.

I did not compose my work as one might put on a church vestment… rather it sprung from the truly fervent faith of my heart, such as I have felt it since my childhood.

Life is only a long and bitter suicide, and faith alone can transform this suicide into a sacrifice.

The principal task of a conductor is not to put himself in evidence but to disappear behind his functions as much as possible. We are pilots, not servants.