Nadia Boulanger

“Music is not a game. It is a religion, a mystery, a problem.”

“The essential conditions of everything you do must be choice, love, passion.”

“To study music, we must learn the rules. To create music, we must forget them.”

“Life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece.”

“Loving a child doesn't mean giving in to all his whims; to love him is to bring out the best in him, to teach him to love what is difficult.”

“A great work is made out of a combination of obedience and liberty.”

“Do not take up music unless you would rather die than not do so.”

“I’ve been a woman for a little over 50 years and have gotten over my initial astonishment.”

“The art of music is so deep and profound that to approach it without reverence and devotion is to desecrate it.”

“Never be a dilettante in emotion.”

“The most important thing is to have a point of view. It is better to be wrong than to be vague.”

“Freedom is to be constantly disciplined.”

“A musician must know how to bleed.”

“Nothing is better than music; when it takes us out of time, it has done more for us than we have the right to hope for.”

“Technique is the test of sincerity.”