Richard Wagner Quotes

What was infinitely more valuable to Wagner, and what excited his gratitude to even more superlative utterance, was the confidence which Liszt showed in his genius, and without which, it is no exaggeration to say, Wagner's greatest works would probably have remained unwritten. ~ Richard Wagner

I think there is no work of art which represents the spirit of a nation more surely than "Die Meister Singer" of Richard Wagner. Here is no plaything with local colour, but the raising to its highest power all that is best in the national consciousness of his country. ~ Ralph Vaughan Williams

Those who grasp the whole, will also comprehend all parts of that whole, even when immediate technical understanding is lacking, and recognize and marshal these. ~ Richard Wagner

It should not be presumed that these people (the Jews), who are so separated from us by their religion, have any right to make our laws. But why blame the Jews? It is we who lack all feeling for our own identity, all sense of honour. ~ Richard Wagner

The French idea of playing an instrument well is to be able to SING well upon it. ~ Richard Wagner

What Music expresses is eternal, infinite, and ideal; she expresses not the passion, love, desire, of this or that individual in this or that condition, but Passion, Love, Desire itself, and in such infinitely varied phases as lie in her unique possession and are foreign and unknown to any other tongue ... So ... Here's to Victory, gained by our higher sense over the worthlessness of the vulgar! To Love, which crowns our courage ... To the day, to the night! ... And three cheers for Music ... ~ Richard Wagner

I know absolutely nothing about music. ~ Richard Wagner

Music truely has to all other arts the same relation as religion to the church. ~ Richard Wagner

The most tremendous genius raised Mozart above all masters,
in all centuries and in all the arts. ~ Richard Wagner

Plant life instead of animal food is the keystone of regeneration. Jesus used bread instead of flesh and wine in place of blood at the Lord's Supper. ~ Richard Wagner

At present, however, science, spurred on by its powerful delusion, is hurrying unstoppably to its limits, where the optimism hidden in the essence oflogic will founder and break up. For there is an infinite number ofpoints on the periphery ofthe circle ofscience, and while we have no way of foreseeing how the circle could ever be completed, a noble and gifted man inevitably encounters, before the mid-point of his existence, boundary points on the periphery like this, where he stares into that which cannot be illuminated. When, to his horror, he sees how logic curls up around itself at these limits and finally bites its own tail, then a new form ofknowledge breaks through, tragic knowledge, which, simply to be endured, needs art for protection and as medicine."
Friedrich Nietzsche, "Foreword to Richard Wagner" in The Birth of Tragedy, ed. R. Geuss & R. Speirs, Cambridge, 2007, 163. (p.114) ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

The essence of higher instrumental music lays herein that one is able to express in tones that what one is unable to say in words. ~ Richard Wagner

We must learn to die, and to die in the fullest sense of the word. The fear of the end is the source of all lovelessness ~ Richard Wagner

Certain things in Mozart will and can never be excelled. ~ Richard Wagner

The immoral profession of musical criticism must be abolished. ~ Richard Wagner

It is necessary for us to explain the involuntary repugnance we possess for the nature and personality of the Jews ... The Jews have never produced a true poet. Heinrich Heine reached the point where he duped himself into a poet, and was rewarded by his versified lies being set to music by our own composers. He was the conscience of Judaism, just as Judaism is the evil conscience of our modern civilization. ~ Richard Wagner

When religion becomes artificial, art has a duty to rescue it. Art can show that the symbols which religions would have us believe literally true are actually figurative. Art can idealize those symbols, and so reveal the profound truths they contain. ~ Richard Wagner

It is a truth forever, that where the speech of man stops short there Music's reign begins. ~ Richard Wagner

I know nothing at all about music. ~ Richard Wagner

I have long been convinced that my artistic ideal stands or falls with Germany. Only the Germany that we love and desire can help us achieve that ideal. ~ Richard Wagner

The only form of music is melody, without melody music is not feasible, and music and melody are quite inseparable. ~ Richard Wagner

The oldest, truest, most beautiful organ of music, the origin to which alone our music owes its being, is the human voice. ~ Richard Wagner

When we set about accounting for a Napoleon or a Shakespeare or a Raphael or a Wagner or an Edison or other extraordinary person, we understand that the measure of his talent will not explain the whole result, nor even the largest part of it; no, it is the atmosphere in which the talent was cradled that explains; it is the training it received while it grew, the nurture it got from reading, study, example, the encouragement it gathered from self-recognition and recognition from the outside at each stage of its development: when we know all these details, then we know why the man was ready when his opportunity came. ~ Mark Twain

Never look at the trombones, it only encourages them. ~ Richard Wagner

In contrast to reincarnation and karma, all other views seem petty and narrow ~ Richard Wagner

I am convinced that there are universal currents of Divine Thought vibrating the ether everywhere and that any who can feel these vibrations is inspired. ~ Richard Wagner

...it was Buddhism that inspired the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer, and, through him, attracted Richard Wagner. This Orientalism reflected the struggle of the German Romantics, in the words of Léon Poliakov, to free themselves from Judeo-Christian fetters. ~ Joscelyn Godwin

I am writing Parsifal only for my wife - if I had to depend on the German spirit, I should have nothing more to say. ~ Richard Wagner

I wish I could score everything for horns. ~ Richard Wagner

It is impossible to communicate with Schumann. The man is hopeless; he doesn't talk at all. ~ Richard Wagner

I believe in God, Mozart and Beethoven, and likewise their disciples and apostles; - I believe in the Holy Spirit and the truth of the one, indivisible Art; - I believe that this Art proceeds from God, and lives within the hearts of all illumined men; - I believe that he who once has bathed in the sublime delights of this high Art, is consecrate to Her for ever, and never can deny Her; - I believe that through Art all men are saved. ~ Richard Wagner

Wagner's music is better than it sounds. ~ Mark Twain

Music is the inarticulate speech of the heart, which cannot be compressed into words, because it is infinite. ~ Richard Wagner

Attack and defence, want and war, victory and defeat, lordship and thraldom, all sealed with the seal of blood: this from henceforth is the History of Man. ~ Richard Wagner

Parsifal is on his way to the temple of the Grail Knights and says: "I hardly move, yet far I seem to have come", and the all-knowing Gurnemanz replies: "You see, my son, time turns here into space ~ Richard Wagner

Whether government finances its added spending by increasing taxes, by borrowing, or by inflating the currency, the added spending will be offset by reduced private spending. Furthermore, private spending is generally more efficient than the government spending that would replace it because people act more carefully when they spend their own money than when they spend other people's money. ~ Richard Wagner

I hate you, Richard Wagner ... but I hate you on my knees. ~ Leonard Bernstein

Many's the man/ who thought himself wise/ but what he needed/ he did not know ... ~ Richard Wagner

One might say that where Religion becomes artificial, it is reserved for Art to save the spirit of religion. ~ Richard Wagner

Only the Strong know Love; only Love can fathom Beauty; only Beauty can fashion Art. ~ Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner commenting on the music of Ludvig Van Beethoven: He was a Titan, wrestling with the Gods. ~ Ludwig Van Beethoven

The whole duty of a conductor is comprised in his ability to indicate the right tempo. ~ Richard Wagner

The satyr, as the Dionysiac chorist, dwells in a reality sanctioned by myth and ritual. That tragedy should begin with him, that the Dionysiac wisdom of tragedy should speak through him, is as puzzling a phenomenon as, more generally, the origin of tragedy from the chorus. Perhaps we can gain a starting point for this inquiry by claiming that the satyr, that fictive nature sprite, stands to cultured man in the same relation as Dionysian music does to civilization. Richard Wagner has said of the latter that it is absorbed by music as lamplight by daylight. In the same manner, I believe, the cultured Greek felt himself absorbed into the satyr chorus, and in the next development of Greek tragedy state and society, in fact everything that separates man from man, gave way before an overwhelming sense of unity that led back into the heart of nature. This metaphysical solace (which, I wish to say at once, all true tragedy sends us away) that, despite every phenomenal change, life is at bottom indestructibly joyful and powerful, was expressed most concretely in the chorus of satyrs, nature beings who dwell behind all civilization and preserve their identity through every change of generations and historical movement.

With this chorus the profound Greek, so uniquely susceptible to the subtlest and deepest suffering, who had penetrated the destructive agencies of both nature and history, solaced himself. Though he had been in danger of craving a Buddhistic denial of the will ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

If experiments on animals were abandoned on grounds of compassion, mankind would have made a fundamental advance. ~ Richard Wagner

The purpose of art: to make the unconscious conscious. ~ Richard Wagner

The long-term vision is to replace, repair and regenerate failing tissues and organs with the materials of tissues and organs. It's still 'out there,' but it's possible to put together a grant proposal now that doesn't sound completely crazy. ~ Richard Wagner

To this group belong not only the genuinely great statesmen but all the great reformers as well. Beside Frederick the Great we have men such as Martin Luther and Richard Wagner. ~ Adolf Hitler

I can't see the logic in medicating a grieving person like there was something wrong with her, and yet it happens all the time... you go to the doctor with symptoms of profound grief and they push an antidepressant at you. We need to walk through our grief, not medicate it and shove it under the carpet like it wasn't there. ~ Richard Wagner

One siupreme fact which I have discovered is that it is not willpower, but fantasy and imagination that ceates. Imagination is the creative force. Imagination creates reality. ~ Richard Wagner

The error in the art-genre of Opera consists herein: a Means of expression (Music) has been made the end, while the End of expression (the Drama) has been made a means. ~ Richard Wagner

Whatever I thought right, to others seemed wrong; what I held to be bad, others approved of. ~ Richard Wagner

For once you are going to hear a dream, a dream that I have made sound ... I dreamed all this; never could my poor head have invented such a thing. ~ Richard Wagner

Here,for the last time together,appeared a triumvirate of old men,relics of a golden age,who still towered like giants above creatures of a later time:Webster,the kind of senator that Richard Wagner might have created at the height of his powers;Calhoun,the most majestic champion of error since Milton's Satan in Paridise Lost;and Clay,the old Conciliator, who had already saved the union twice and now came out of retirement to save it with his silver voice and his master touch once again before he died. ~ David M. Potter

The sounds proceeding from the instruments of symphonic music seem to be the very organs of the mysteries of creation; for they reveal, as it were, the primal stirrings of creation which brought order out of chaos long before the human heart was there to behold them. ~ Richard Wagner

I know of only one composer who measures up to Beethoven, and that is Bruckner. ~ Richard Wagner

I am fond of them, of the inferior beings of the abyss, of those who are full of longing. ~ Richard Wagner

Bruckner he is my man! ~ Richard Wagner

To them belong, not only the truly great statesmen, but all other great reformers as well. Beside Frederick the Great stands Martin Luther as well as Richard Wagner. ~ Adolf Hitler

Richard looked up at the beautiful, big pines spreading over them, illuminated in the firelight. A spark of understanding lit in his mind. He saw the branches stretched out with murderous intent in a years-long struggle to reach the sunlight and dispatch its neighbors with its shade. Success would give space for its offspring, many of which would also shrivel in the shade of the parent. Several close neighbors of the big pine were withered and weak, victims all. It was true. The design of nature was success by murder. ~ Terry Goodkind

My performance level has risen - and my anxiety-level has sky-rocketed. ~ Richard Lewis

There has always been an elegance to the application of excellence. ~ Richard Diaz

THERE'S NO OTHER WAY to find out whether or not you'll be successful other than just doing it ~ Richard Branson

We take simple preferences and turn them into conditions for our own happiness. ~ Richard Carlson

The more one gives one's self in creative union with another, the more one becomes one's self. ~ Richard Rohr

More poignant for us, at Laetoli in Tanzania are the companionable footprints of three real hominids, probably Australopithecus afarensis, walking together 3.6 million years ago in what was then fresh volcanic ash. Who does not wonder what these individuals were to each other, whether they held hands or even talked, and what forgotten errand they shared in a Pliocene dawn? ~ Richard Dawkins

Everyone needs something to aim for. You can call it a challenge, or you can call it a goal. It is what makes us human. It was challenges that took us from being cavemen to reaching for the stars. ~ Richard Branson

Whatever stands against that freedom must be set aside, be it ritual or superstition or limitation in any form. ~ Richard Bach

Covergirl is my sponsor, and they have been so helpful in supplying me with their wonderful products. I love their blush, mascara and lip gloss. ~ Ashley Wagner

The Good News must be backed by integrity in our lives. We cannot proclaim His love if we close our hearts to the hungry. We cannot proclaim His salvation if we have not been saved from our own greed. Flamboyant, prosperous Christians are an offense to third world peoples by their insensitivity to the poverty and human deprivation, whether they come as traveling evangelists or sight-seeing vacationers. ~ Richard J. Foster

Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everylasting benefit. ~ Richard G. Scott

Human psychology has a near universal tendency to let belief be coloured by desire. ~ Richard Dawkins

I'm intrigued by how ordinary behavior exists so close beside its opposite. ~ Richard Ford

There is a connection between me and the collectors, and as admirers of the work they tell me about the differences the pieces are able to make in their lives on a daily basis. ~ Richard MacDonald

To hell with you. You just don't want to admit it. Those people, they're animals. They want to see someone's brains on the road, that's why they turn out. They'd just as soon see yours."
"That isn't the point," McVries said calmly. "Didn't you say you went to see the Long Walk when you were younger?"
"Yes, when I didn't know any better!"
"Well, that makes it okay, doesn't it?" McVries uttered a short, ugly-sounding laugh. "Sure they're animals. You think you just found out a new principle? Sometimes I wonder just how naive you really are. The French lords and ladies used to screw after the guillotinings. The old Romans used to stuff each other during the gladiatorial matches. That's entertainment, Garraty. It's nothing new." He laughed againd. Garraty stared at him, fascinated.
[...]
"Death is great for the appetites," McVries said. [...] "But even that's not the real point of this little expedition, Garraty. The point is, they're the smart ones. They're not getting thrown to the lions. They're not staggering along and hoping they won't have to take a shit with two warnings against them. You're dumb, Garraty. You and me and Pearson and Barkovitch and Stebbins, we're all dumb. Scramm's dumb because he thinks he understands and he doesn't. Olson's dumb because he understood too much too late. They're animals, all right. But why are you so goddam sure that makes us human beings?"
He paused, badly out of breath.
[...]
"Then why are you doi ~ Richard Bachman

When I meet a couple, I'm always interested to know if they have been together for a long time, or how loyal they are, because I know that will impact on how much I'm prepared to trust them. ~ Richard E. Grant

Thou water turn'st to wine, fair friend of life; Thy foe, to cross the sweet arts of Thy reign, Distils from thence the tears of wrath and strife, And so turns wine to water back again. ~ Richard Crashaw

Goering was a contradictory [and] complex ... character. ~ Richard Overy

The Book of Mormon is concrete and solid, they can hold it, and they can visualize that they have to pray to decide if this physical thing is true. There is no room for interpretation. ~ Richard G. Scott

What are the important problems of your field? ~ Richard Hamming

As far as the future for the Showtime episodes that have already aired, we are sold into syndication so we'll be appearing primarily on the Fox syndicated networks and then eventually the SCI FI Channel. So, we'll be around for a while. ~ Richard Dean Anderson

The elephants were being slaughtered in masses. Some were even killed in the vicinity of big tourist hotels. ~ Richard Leakey

Bird 1: This is the wrong story.
Bird 2: All stories are the wrong story when you are impatient. ~ Richard Siken

He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to steady his breathing, then he decides that's stupid. He's come this far, he's handcuffed to the bed, he's about to let a tattooed part-time drag queen in thigh-high leather boots fuck him. What's the point of trying for self-control? ~ Richard Rider

Something draws you ... An impatience with your own ignorance. ~ Richard Ford

Leadership is an act of submission to God. To be a leader means listening to all kinds of people and situations. Out of that listening, we are hoping to discern the mind of God as best we can. This is the price of leadership - it's an act of sacrifice. So leadership is part and parcel of the work of submission to God. ~ Richard Foster

Any information about U.S. special operations forces is highly sensitive. ~ Richard Engel

If sportswriting teaches you anything, and there is much truth to it as well as plenty of lies, it is that for your life to be worth anything you must sooner or later face the possibility of terrible, searing regret. Though you must also manage to avoid it or your life will be ruined. ~ Richard Ford

The old sergeant from headquarters treats me like a son and takes the greatest pride in whatever I do or write. He regularly assigns me now to certain doors, and I always obey orders like the little gentleman that I am. ~ Richard H. Davis

If you want to encourage someone to do something, make it easy. ~ Richard Thaler

Among many other reforms, Australians pioneered the secret ballot and universal suffrage. ~ Richard Flanagan

And when the man Rook had dubbed the unholy spawn off Rahm Emanuel and Gordon Gekko wanted something, "no" came at your own risk. ~ Richard Castle

Some actors don't mind it. Those who are pretty. They think it's nice to be looked at because they are nice to look at. I appreciate that. I'm very happy to salute that aspiration. But I don't like the way I look so I don't like being photographed. I become defensive. ~ Richard Griffiths

There is no romance without some lying. That's what romance is - a little bit of Vaseline on the camera lens of life. ~ Richard Jeni