"How very seldom do you encounter in the world a man of great abilities, acquirements, experience, who will unmask his mind, unbutton his brains, and pour forth in careless and picturesque phrase all the results of his studies and observation; his knowledge of men, books, and nature. On the contrary, if a man has by any chance an original idea, he hoards it as if it were old gold; and rather avoids the subject with which he is most conversant, from fear that you may appropriate his best thoughts."

-- Benjamin Disraeli

#Book Quotes #Men Quotes #Ideas Quotes

“A great piece of music is beautiful regardless of how it is performed. Any prelude or fugue of Bach can be played at any tempo, with or without rhythmic nuances, and it will still be great music. That's how music should be written, so that no-one, no matter how philistine, can ruin it.”

Source : Letter to Isaac Glikman, (August 28, 1955) in "Composers on Music" edited by Josiah Fisk and Jeff Nichols, (p. 364), 1997.
“Infatuation means, 'A love that it is inconvenient to go on with.”

Source : Celia Fremlin (2017). “Uncle Paul”, p.172, Courier Dover Publications
“The economic position is only flourishing on the surface. Germany is in fact dancing on a volcano. If the short-term credits are called in, a large section of our economy would collapse.”
“I will personally never ever get over the communal experience of theatrical cinema. I will never get over the scale of a big screen in relation to your small body, big sounds in a big room with a bunch of other people.”
“If people disobey, don't ask what is wrong with them, ask what's wrong with their leaders.”
“I can always tell when you're reading somewhere in the house,' my mother used to say. 'There's a special silence, a reading silence.”
“The sea speaks a language polite people never repeat. It is a colossal scavenger slang and has no respect.”
“You can't possibly judge your ability to control something until you've experienced the extremes of its capabilities. Do you understand?”

Source : Richard Russo (2017). “Empire Falls”, p.296, Atlantic Books

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