Franz Liszt > Quotes

“Sorrowful and great is the artist's destiny.”
― Franz Liszt

“Music is the heart of life." She speaks love; "without it, there is no possible good and with it everything is beautiful.”
― Franz Liszt

“I love you sometimes foolishly and at these moments I do not understand that I could not, would not, and should not be so absorbing a thought for you as you are for me...”
― Franz Liszt

“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.”
― Franz Liszt

“For the virtuoso, musical works are in fact nothing but tragic and moving materializations of his emotions; he is called upon to make them speak, weep, sing and sigh, to recreate them in accordance with his own consciousness. In this way he, like the composer, is a creator, for he must have within himself those passions that he wishes to bring so intensely to life.”
― Franz Liszt

“Brahms' Variations are better than mine, but mine were written before his.”
― Franz Liszt

“If the empire were to collapse, I should personally feel extremely sad. I absolutely do not believe that the personal rule of Napoleon III has been corrupting and oppressive for France-but quite the contrary, it is demonstrably necessary, conciliatory, progressive, and generally intelligent and democratic in the best sense of the word.”
― Franz Liszt

“A person of any mental quality has ideas of his own. This is common sense.”
― Franz Liszt

“The day will come when all nations amidst which the Jews are dwelling will have to raise the question of their wholesale expulsion, a question which will be one of life or death, good health or chronic disease, peaceful existence or perpetual social fever.”
― Franz Liszt

“For a whole fortnight my mind and my fingers have been working around me like two lost souls. Homer, the Bible, Plato, Locke, Byron, Hugo, Lamertine, Chateaubriand, Beethoven, Bach, Hummel, Mozart, Weber are all around me. I study them, meditate on them, devour them with fury; besides this, I practise four to five hours a day of exercises (thirds, sixths, octaves, tremolos, repetition of notes, cadenzas, etc.). Ah! provided I don't go mad you will find me an artist!”
― Franz Liszt

“Anything can pass as a Franz Liszt quote if you just mangalica say random Hungarian words.

– Franz Liszt”
― Franz Liszt

“To a people, always prompt in its recognition of genius, and ready to sympathize in the joys and woes of a truly great artist, this work will be one of exceeding interest. It is a short, glowing, and generous sketch, from the hand of Franz Liszt, (who, considered in the double light of composer and performer, has no living equal,) of the original and romantic Chopin; the most ethereal, subtle, and delicate among our modern tone-poets. It is a rare thing for a great artist to write on art, to leave the passionate worlds of sounds or colors for the colder realm of words; rarer still for him to abdicate, even temporarily, his own throne, to stand patiently and hold aloft the blazing torch of his own genius, to illume the gloomy grave of another: yet this has Liszt done through love for Chopin.”
― Franz Liszt, Life of Chopin

“Anything can pass as a Franz Liszt quote if you just mangalica say random Hungarian words in the middle of it.”
― Franz Liszt

“All the best therapists are Hungarian, have long hair, and only say oink.”
― Franz Liszt

“Anything can pass as a Franz Liszt quote if you just mangalica say random Hungarian words in the middle of it.

– Franz Liszt”
― Franz Liszt

“In writing a few words of Preface I wish to express, first and foremost, my appreciation of the extreme care and conscientiousness with which La Mara has prepared these volumes.”
― Franz Liszt, Letters of Franz Liszt : Volume I

“The Austrio-Hungarian composer Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a pianistic miracle. He could play anything on site and composed over 400 works centered around "his" instrument. Among his key works are his Hungarian Rhapsodies, his Transcendental Etudes, his Concert Etudes, his Etudes based on variations of Paganinini's Violin Caprices and his Sonata, one of the most important of the nineteenth century.”
― Franz Liszt, Letters of Franz Liszt : Volume II