Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
A man is not necessarily a master because he happened to compose two or three centuries ago. Let us beware of the worship of mere antiquity.
If I do not practice one day; I know it. If I do not practice the next, the orchestra knows it; if I do not practice the third day, the whole world knows it.
If I don't practise for one day, I know it; if I don't practise for two days, the critics knows it; if I don't practise for three days, the audience knows it.
I owe my sucess in one per cent to my talent, in ten per cent to luck, and in ninety per cent to hard word. Work, work, and more work is the secret to success.
Times change, people change, thought and feeling take new shapes, put on fresh garments, sons bow their heads unwillingly to that which enraptured their fathers.
I do not have to look for credentials for my Polishness and for my patriotism. I'm a Pole. The chronicles of my family go back - as far back as the 13th century.
And in the last sentence I would like also to mention that Poland is one of the countries with which the United States has run strategic dialogues since last year.
The diversity of our cultures is Europe's greatest asset. We have to preserve this asset. And any political intervention that reduces this diversity is a loss to Europe.
The Germans are indeed the economically and politically strongest power in Europe. But their superiority does not equal the past and present superiority of the Americans.
We take our international responsibilities very seriously and will not withdraw our troops from Iraq... Otherwise, the victims of terror in Madrid will have died in vain.
Poland is one of the few countries that can afford to conduct a conventional monetary policy and that means we have to act against the buildup of imbalances in the economy.
There might be many similarities between Erdogan and Putin. We can see that in the current developments, unfortunately. But Viktor Orban seriously does not fit in that list.
Just as surely as every new language mastered opens up a new world, so knowledge of a Beethoven, a Chopin, or a Schumann opens up a new world in spiritual beauty and thought.
Primarily, Warsaw and Brussels share the central basic values of the EU: human dignity, democracy, and the religious freedom of every single human being. We believe in these values.
There have been a few moments when I have known complete satisfaction, but only a few. I have rarely been free from the disturbing realization that my playing might have been better.
The genius is the man who has genuine and deep human relations with others, who does not cut himself off in the search for originality, but who realizes the value of artistic tradition.
We're in a tightening cycle and the reason is the economy is growing, there's no expectation that the global economy and the Polish economy as a consequence could slow down dramatically.
There is no "ruler" in our country. Poland is a democracy. Our Prime Minister leads the government; the President is fulfilling his tasks. But there is a little bit left for the party leader.
To the contrary, when you look at projections, both Polish and international, we can expect some slowing down of the rate of growth in the coming year, 2012. But of course these are projections.
Change follows change in us, almost without transition; we pass from blissful rapture to sobbing woe; a single step divides our sublimest ecstasies from the darkest depth of spiritual despondency.
Is there anything more true than human pain? Is there anything more sincere than the cry for help from those who suffer? Only a great wave of mankind's pity can surmount an immense wave of human misery?
With respect to Great Britain, I have a dream, by the way: that the Brits will see that the EU is changing, and change their minds. And then remain in the EU or return to the EU. I am not giving up hope.
As far as the international issues are concerned, the most important thing is the state of the transatlantic relationships, Euro-Atlantic relationships: how to develop them and how to strengthen them further.
No matter who becomes chancellor, Poland and Germany will remain neighbours, strategic partners, not only within the European Union, but also world partners, and I don't believe anything could change in our relations.
Brexit was not a historical accident, after all. It taught us where the EU's real problems lie. And if we do not solve them, we will not prevent the anti-European currents in many EU countries, but rather encourage them.
There flows throughout our whole history a stream of humanity, of generosity, of tolerance, so broad, so powerful, and so pure that it would be vain indeed to look for a similar one in the past of any other European country.
Concerning the common currency: today, the euro is not worth it for Poland. The reason why we survived the financial and economic crisis quite well is that we have a national currency. This will not change in the near future.
True originality has its foundations in the soul, not in the mind, and when there is an effort to create something different it is usually a failure. Beethoven or Schumann or Chopin did not try to be original. They were original.
With the sugar market hysteria, the people are obviously worried and expect higher inflation. When this hysteria subsides, which we're probably observing, then I hope that people will also get less worried about the future of inflation.
The Holocaust committed by the Nazis turned this country, where most of the European Jews used to live and where their culture used to flourish, into a massive grave. This is why initiatives to revive Jewish culture in Poland is so important.
There were three causes that accounted for the proclamation of martial law in Poland. First it was the progressing economic ruin of the country. Second, it was the decomposition of the functioning of the state. And third, a threat of a civil war.
It is not from choice that my life is music and nothing more, but when one is an artist what else can he be? When a whole lifetime is too short to attain the heights he wants to reach, how then can he devote any of the little time he has to things outside of his art?
Musical expression is never primarily national, but is personal and individual rather. It is so deep, so profound, that it goes beyond and below nationality and gives voice to the most private feeling. In music there is never exact heredity. Each man is an individual.
I still have five years to the end of my term. There are many candidates. There'll be a problem if it's supposed to be a European or someone from the emerging countries, the so-called BRICS. This will be decided, but please don't think Poland has anything to say about it.
It's not about the pace, it's about the direction we've set. The pace is of course a function of many factors, including the magnitude of the supply shock. But what's probably more important is the probability of the supply shock translating into sustainable embedded inflation.
There are historic examples where a soft domination of certain states worked well. For instance the US, who dominated the Western alliance after World War II - with a giant army, an enormous population, and its globally superior economic power. This role is quite different for Germany today.
Poland does not want to remain a net recipient of EU subsidies forever. On the contrary: we want the right to develop in a fair market, and by this right, we want to one day catch up with Germany in terms of welfare and economic power. This will not take 100 years! And then many Poles who emigrated will be able to return home.
The EU treaties clearly promote an alliance of national states that, as far as possible, maintain their own responsibilities. There is no mention of a centralized state of Europe in the treaties. The EU Commission's politicking, however, is proof of a certain allergy against this principle of national states and national responsibilities.
I do not believe, as do so many musicians, that genius should be left to fight its way to the light. Genius is too rare, too precious, to be permitted to waste the best years of life--the years of youth and lofty dreams--in a heart-breaking struggle for bread. To starve the soul with the body is to do worse than murder. Think, too, of what the public loses!
Germany's potential makes up about 20% of the EU's overall economic power, including Great Britain. The German army is by no means strong enough to guarantee the security of the EU's two endangered flanks - in the east and in the south. So all that remains for Germany is partnerships with its neighbours and other EU member states. Germany should stick to that role.
Every new generation in its hour of dawn, filled with the dreams of youth, its thirsts, intoxications and enthusiasms, thinks itself called upon to impel humanity towards heights unmeasured, believes itself an appointed pathfinder, a thinker of thoughts, a doer of deeds greater than any of those which came before. Every new generation desires beauty, but a beauty all its own.
For Germany, Poland is now a more important trade partner than Russia. With respect to history, our peoples will require more time for the wounds to heal. But it is also important to stick to the truth in accounting for the past. This is not compatible with, for instance, TV movies such as "Our mothers, our fathers" that try to partly shift the liability for Nazi crimes to us Poles.