Talk:Gustav Mahler

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• The point is not to take the world's opinion as a guiding star but to go one's way in life and working unerringly, neither depressed by failure nor seduced by applause.
• A symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything.
• The longer you live and the more you learn, the more clearly you will feel the difference between the few men who are truly great and the mere virtuosi.
• Don't bother looking at the view — I have already composed it.
• If you think you're boring your audience, go slower not faster.
• The important thing is never to let oneself be guided by the opinion of one's contemporaries; to continue steadfastly on one's way without letting oneself be either defeated by failure or diverted by applause.
• What's best in music is not to be found in the notes.
• Was ihr Theaterleute euere Tradition nennt, das ist nichts anderes als eure Bequemlichkeit und Schlamperei.
  • What the theater folks call tradition is nothing more than their laziness and sloppiness.
• You couldn't imagine how this will sound!
  • To Natalie Bauer-Lechner of his third symphony
• Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound.
  • On the finale of his eighth symphony "Res Severa Verum Gaudia" (To Be Serious is the Greatest Joy)
• In the theatrical works we love and admire the most, the ending of the drama generally takes place offstage.

Quote about Tradition - This quote has been credited to Gustav Mahler: “Tradition ist nicht die Anbetung der Asche, sondern die Weitergabe des Feuers.”

Preferred English translation: “Tradition is not about worshiping ashes, but rather about preserving the fire.” July 9, 2020 JG Ribble

Flame To Pass On

• Tradition is not to preserve the ashes, but to pass on the flame.
  (Deutsch: Tradition ist nicht die Anbetung der Asche, sondern die Weitergabe des Feuers.)
  

— Not by Mahler. Great correction from Baronnet. Credit to him and Gerald Krieghofer from Wiener Zeitung! 59cond12 (talk) 01:55, 7 July 2020 (UTC)