“What's even worse than a flute? - Two flutes!”

“If you would dance, my pretty Count, I'll play the tune on my little guitar.”

“Forgive me, Majesty. I am a vulgar man! But I assure you, my music is not.”

“It is a mistake to think that the practice of my art has become easy to me...”

“A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary... but a man of superior talent will go to pieces if he remains forever in the same place.”

“If people could see into my heart, I should almost feel ashamed - all there is cold, cold as ice.”

“What's even worse than a flute? - Two flutes!”

“If one has the talent it pushes for utterance and torments one; it will out; and then one is out with it without questioning.”

“The only thing... that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with those people...”

“They probably think because I am so small and young, nothing of greatness and class can come out of me...”

“You know that I immerse myself in music, so to speak...”

“It is a mistake to think that the practice of my art has become easy to me. I assure you, dear friend, no one has given so much care to the study of composition as I.”

“Nevertheless the passions, whether violent or not, should never be so expressed as to reach the point of disgust; and music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it.”

“I beg you most humbly to go on loving me just a little...”

“I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.”

“People err who think my art comes easily to me. I assure you, dear friend, nobody has devoted so much time and thought to compositions as I.”

“Melody is the essence of music. I compare a good melodist to a fine racer...”

“I am not thoughtless but am prepared for anything... and I'll be able to endure it.”

“It is, of course, a money marriage, nothing more...”

“Stay with me to-night; you must see me die. I have long had the taste of death on my tongue...”