Gustav Mahler Quotes

Austrian - Composer | July 7, 1860 - May 18, 1911

The point is not to take the world's opinion as a guiding star but to go one's way in life and working unerringly, neither depressed by failure nor seduced by applause.

Gustav Mahler

LifeFailureOpinionWorldGoWay

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

Gustav Mahler

MeExistenceBranchesWastedBehind

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

Gustav Mahler

WorldEverythingMustSymphonyLike

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

Gustav Mahler

GiftInventionSignsDivineMelodic

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

Gustav Mahler

DetailNot PerfectPerfectDown

If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.

Gustav Mahler

MusicWordsTryingSayWouldBother

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

Gustav Mahler

GreatReachLeaveSummitHigher

The call of love sounds very hollow among these immobile rocks.

Gustav Mahler

LoveRocksCallHollowSoundsVery

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

Gustav Mahler

IdleAlwaysSomethingUsRemains

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

Gustav Mahler

YouVanityDelusionMustConvention

The further the music develops, the more complex the apparatus used by the composer to express his thoughts becomes.

Gustav Mahler

MusicThoughtsMoreComplexUsed

It's not just a question of conquering a summit previously unknown, but of tracing, step by step, a new pathway to it.

Gustav Mahler

StepNewUnknownQuestionPathway

1234Next pageLast

Related Authors

Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Gustav Mahler quotes