“A man must pay the fiddler, in my case it so happened that a whole symphony orchestra often had to be subsidized”

“Music, the greatest good that mortals know, and all of heaven we have below”

“An opera may be allowed to be extravagantly lavish in its decorations, as its only design is to gratify the senses and keep up an indolent attention in the audience”

“I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs”

“Where words fail, music speaks”

“So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why doesn't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women”