A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything. Gustav Mahler More Quotes by Gustav Mahler More Quotes From Gustav Mahler Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. Gustav Mahler ashesfirehistory If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music. Gustav Mahler musicexpressionfunny It is a funny thing, but when I am making music, all the answers I seek for in life seem to be there, in the music. Or rather, I should say, when I am making music, there are no questions and no need for answers. Gustav Mahler funny-thingsmusicneeds What is best in music is not to be found in the notes. Gustav Mahler classical-musicnotesmusical 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 way-in-lifedepressingstars I am thrice homeless, as a native of Bohemia in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew throughout the world. Everywhere an intruder, never welcomed. Gustav Mahler homelessaustriaworld That which draws us by its mystical force; what every created thing, even the very stones, feels with absolute certainty as the center of its being... is the force of love. Christians call this "eternal blessedness." It is a necessity of man for growth and joy. Gustav Mahler christianjoymen But it's peculiar, as soon as I am in the midst of nature and by myself, everything that is base and trivial vanishes without trace. On such days nothing scares me; and this helps me again and again. Gustav Mahler scarepeculiarhelping If you think you're boring your audience, go slower not faster. Gustav Mahler boringwritingthinking I am hitting my head against the walls, but the walls are giving way. Gustav Mahler wallinspiringgiving To write a symphony is, for me, to construct a world. Gustav Mahler symphonywritingworld We all return. It is this certainty that gives meaning to life and it does not make the slightest difference whether or not in a later incarnation we remember the former life. What counts is not the individual and his comfort, but the great aspiration to the perfect and the pure which goes on in each incarnation. Gustav Mahler differencesperfectgiving For the last month I have been a strict vegetarian. The moral effects of this regime are immense, owing to the voluntary subjugation of the flesh and the resulting absence of desires. You will appreciate how full I am of this idea when I tell you that I expect it to work the regeneration of mankind. I advise you to change over to a natural way of life, with proper nourishment (wholemeal bread), and you will soon feel the benefit. Gustav Mahler appreciatedesireideas Both my marriages were failures! Number one departed, and number two stayed Gustav Mahler failurenumberstwo Tradition is tending the flame, not worshiping the ashes. Gustav Mahler ashestraditionflames When I have reached a summit, I leave it with great reluctance, unless it is to reach for another, higher one. Gustav Mahler reluctancesummithigher In Bach, the vital cells of music are united as the world is in God. Gustav Mahler unitedcellsworld A true personality . . . is like a robust organism that, with unconscious sureness, seeks out and digests the nourishment appropriate to it and vigorously rejects that which is unsuitable. Gustav Mahler robustunconsciouspersonality Discipline, work. Work, discipline. Gustav Mahler discipline There is a world of difference between a Mahler eighth note and a normal eighth note. Gustav Mahler mahlerdifferencesworld
