The long-lost photo (above) of Mozart at age five clearly indicates a degree of self-confidence he developed while composing his first symphony.
Most of us need more time before we create a great work of art, if indeed we ever do.
Here are some of Mozart’s memorable observations.
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o I pay no attention whatever to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.
o I thank my God for graciously granting me the opportunity of learning that death is the key which unlocks the door to our true happiness.
o When I am traveling in a carriage, or walking after a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep; it is on such occasions that ideas flow best and most abundantly.
o It is a great consolation for me to remember that the Lord, to whom I had drawn near in humble and child-like faith, has suffered and died for me, and that He will look on me in love and compassion.
o Nevertheless the passions, whether violent or not, should never be so expressed as to reach the point of causing disgust; and music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music.
o Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.
o One must not make oneself cheap here — that is a cardinal point — or else one is done. Whoever is most impertinent has the best chance.
o I know myself, and I have such a sense of religion that I shall never do anything which I would not do before the whole world; but I am alarmed at the very thoughts of being in the society of people, during my journey, whose mode of thinking is so entirely different from mine (and from that of all good people). But of course they must do as they please. I have no heart to travel with them, nor could I enjoy one pleasant hour, nor know what to talk about; for, in short, I have no great confidence in them. Friends who have no religion cannot be long our friends.
o A fellow of mediocre talent will remain a mediocrity, whether he travels or not; but one of superior talent (which without impiety I cannot deny that I possess) will go to seed if he always remains in the same place.
o The golden mean, the truth, is no longer recognized or valued. To win applause one must write stuff so simple that a coachman might sing it, or so incomprehensible that it pleases simply because no sensible man can comprehend it.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He was born in Salzburg, Austria (January 27, 1756) and died in Vienna, Austria (December 5, 1791) at age 35.