Bach Is An Astronomer, Discovering The Most

If I Were Still Stupider Than I Am, I Should Think Myself At The Apex Of My Career; Yet I Know How Much I Still Lack, To Reach Perfection; I See It The More Clearly Now That I Live Only Among First-rank Artists And Know What Each One Of Them Lacks.

They Want Me To Give Another Concert But I Have No Desire To Do So. You Cannot Imagine What A Torture The Three Days Before A Public Appearance Are To Me.

We Fell Silent And All Joking Ceased. We Gazed Mutely Into Each Other's Eyes And An Intense Longing For The Fullest Avowal Of The Truth Forced Us To A Confession, Requiring No Words Whatever, Or The Incommensurable Misfortune That Weighed Upon Us. With Tears And Sobs We Sealed A Vow To Belong To Each Other Alone.

The Last Thing Is Simplicity. After Having Gone Through All The Difficulties, Having Played An Endless Number Of Notes, It Is Simplicity That Matters, With All Its Charm. It Is The Final Seal On Art. Anyone Who Strives For This To Begin With Will Be Disappointed. You Cannot Begin At The End.

I Am Gay On The Outside, Especially Among My Own Folk (i Count Poles My Own); But Inside Something Gnaws At Me; Some Presentiment, Anxiety, Dreams - Or Sleeplessness - Melancholy, Indifference - Desire For Life, And The Next Instant, Desire For Death; Some Kind Of Sweet Peace, Some Kind Of Numbness, Absent-mindedness.