“A great pianist was once asked by an admirer, "How do you handle the notes as well as you do?" The artist replied, "The notes I handle no better than many pianists, but the pauses between the notes--ah, that is where the art resides!”

“The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes - ah, that is where the art resides.”

“The notes I can handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes-ah, that is where the art resides.”

“I was like a well trained pianist who knows which note to hit, but can't make the music his own.”

“The truth is, anyone who puts so much of herself and her life into art as you do must naturally fear any failure in that art as a potential threat to your life. And so you protect your art more than you protect your health or the common forms of happiness the rest of us have. And you probably have this in common with every artist you admire.”

“These hands are steady enough, but they are large. Had he been a proper pianist - he's dabbled inexpertly - his ten-note span might be of use.”

“For the will, as that which is common to all, is for that reason also common: consequently, every vehement emergence of will is common, i.e. it demeans us to a mere exemplar of the species.He, who on the other hand. who wants to be altogether uncommon, that is to say great, must never let a preponderant agitation of will take his consciousness altogether, however much he is urged to do so.He must, e.g., be able to take note of the odious opinion of another without feeling his own aroused by it: indeed, there is no surer sign of greatness than ignoring hurtful or insulting expressions by attributing them without further ado, like countless other errors, to the speaker's lack of knowledge and thus merely taking note of them without feeling them.”