"Applause is a receipt, not a note of demand."

“I know two kinds of audience only – one coughing, and one not coughing.”

“The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes – ah, that is where the art resides.”

“I am attracted only to music which I consider to be better than it can be performed. Therefore I feel that unless a piece of music presents a problem to me, a never-ending problem, it doesn't interest me too much.”

“Children are given Mozart because of the small quantity of the notes; grown-ups avoid Mozart because of the great quality of the notes.”