Top 50 Robert Schumann Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “When you play, never mind who listens to you.”

— Robert Schumann

2. “Talent works, genius creates.”

— Robert Schumann

3. “To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist.”

— Robert Schumann

4. “My whole life has been a struggle between Poetry and Prose, or call it Music and Law.”

— Robert Schumann

5. “In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of.”

— Robert Schumann

6. “The principal mark of genius is not perfection, but originality.”

— Robert Schumann

7. “We may be sure that a genius like Mozart, were he born today, would write concertos like Chopin and not like Mozart.”

— Robert Schumann

8. “Perhaps only a Genius can truly understand Genius.”

— Robert Schumann

9. “You write to become immortal, or because the piano happens to be open, or you’ve looked into a pair of beautiful eyes.”

— Robert Schumann

10. “That first concept is alway the most naturally and best. The mind errs, the emotion never.”

— Robert Schumann

11. “Music owes as much to Bach as religion to its founder.”

— Robert Schumann

12. “If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never have an ensemble. therefore, respect every musician in his proper place.”

— Robert Schumann

13. “Play always as if in the presence of a master.”

— Robert Schumann

14. “Let your intimate friends be chosen from such as are better informed than yourself.”

— Robert Schumann

15. “Endeavour to play easy pieces well and with elegance; that is better than to play difficult pieces badly.”

— Robert Schumann

16. “Nothing right can be accomplished in art without enthusiasm.”

— Robert Schumann

17. “A fiery, good beginner always stands higher than a master in mediocrity...”

— Robert Schumann

18. “I am so fresh in soul and spirit that life gushes and bubbles around me in a thousand springs.”

— Robert Schumann

19. “It is the curse of talent that, although it labors with greater steadiness and perseverance than genius, it does not reach its goal, while genius already on the summit of the ideal, gazes laughingly about.”

— Robert Schumann

20. “We have learned to express the more delicate nuances of feeling by penetrating more deeply into the mysteries of harmony.”

— Robert Schumann

21. “I was a God-fearing child, innocent and physically attractive.”

— Robert Schumann

22. “I feel so entirely in my element with a full orchestra; even if my mortal enemies were marshalled before me, I could lead them, master them, surround them, or repulse them.”

— Robert Schumann

23. “From a pound of iron, that costs little, a thousand watch-springs can be made, whose value becomes prodigious. The pound you have received from the Lord, – use it faithfully.”

— Robert Schumann

24. “The aesthetic principle is the same in every art, only the material differs.”

— Robert Schumann

25. “People compose for many reasons, to become immortal; because the piano happens to be open; because they want to become a millionaire; because of the praise of friends; because they have looked into a pair of beautiful eyes; or for no reason whatsoever.”

— Robert Schumann

26. “Does it not seem as if Mozart’s works become fresher and fresher the oftener we hear them?”

— Robert Schumann

27. “I sometimes lack confidence in public, although I am proud enough inwardly.”

— Robert Schumann

28. “For me, music is always the language which permits one to converse with the Beyond.”

— Robert Schumann

29. “Remember, there are more people in the world than yourself. Be modest! You have not yet invented nor thought anything which others have not thought or invented before. And should you really have done so, consider it a gift of heaven which you are to share with others.”

— Robert Schumann

30. “The flame that is naturally clear always gives the most light and heat. If I could blend my talent for poetry and music into one, the light would burn still clearer, and I might go far.”

— Robert Schumann

31. “An evil fate has deprived me of the full use of my right hand, so that I am not able to play my compositions as I feel them. The trouble with my hand is that certain fingers have become so weak, probably through writing and playing too much at one time, that I can hardly use them.”

— Robert Schumann

32. “When you play, do not trouble yourself as to who is listening. Yet always play as though a master listened to you.”

— Robert Schumann

33. “Art was not created as a way to riches. Strive to become a true artist; all else will take care of itself.”

— Robert Schumann

34. “You will be most readily cured of vanity or presumption by studying the history of music, and by hearing the master pieces which have been produced at different periods.”

— Robert Schumann

35. “To compose is to remember music that has never been written.”

— Robert Schumann

36. “Without enthusiasm nothing great can be effected in art.”

— Robert Schumann

37. “Mendelssohn I consider the first musician of the day; I doff my hat to him as my superior. He plays with everything, especially with the grouping of the instruments in the orchestra, but with such ease, delicacy and art, with such mastery throughout.”

— Robert Schumann

38. “Music – so different from painting – is the art which we enjoy most in company with others. A symphony, presented in a room with one other listener, would please him but little.”

— Robert Schumann

39. “The poet sees better than other mortals. I do not see things as they are, but according to my own subjective impression, and this makes life easier and simpler.”

— Robert Schumann

40. “Believe me, were I ever to accomplish anything, it would be in music, which has always attracted me; and, without overestimating myself, I am conscious of possessing a certain creative faculty.”

— Robert Schumann

41. “We shouldn’t repeat the same for ages on end, but look into the new as well.”

— Robert Schumann

42. “Music induces nightingales to sing, pug dogs to yelp.”

— Robert Schumann

43. “When young, one learns his craftsmanship, may become a young master, and it is youth that is most auspicious for developing certain skills.”

— Robert Schumann

44. “Only when the form grows clear to you, will the spirit become so too.”

— Robert Schumann

45. “You should neither play bad compositions, nor, unless compelled, listen to them.”

— Robert Schumann

46. “Can that which has cost the artist days, weeks, months and even years of reflection be understood in a flash by a dilettante?”

— Robert Schumann

47. “My indifference to money and my spendthrift ways are disgraceful. You have no idea how reckless I am; how often I practically throw money out of the window. I am always making good resolutions, but the next minute I forget and give the waiter eightpence.”

— Robert Schumann

48. “Think it a vile habit to alter works of good composers, to omit parts of them, or to insert new-fashioned ornaments. This is the greatest insult you can offer to Art.”

— Robert Schumann

49. “Thus it is ever in life. The aims we once pursued no longer satisfy us; we aim, we strive, we aspire, until sight fails, and mind and body find rest in the grave.”

— Robert Schumann

50. “By means of industry and perseverance you will rise higher and higher.”

— Robert Schumann