"Islands of memory begin to rise above the river of his life. At first they are little uncharted islands, rocks just p…"

"He was not a bad man, but a half-good man, which is perhaps worse—weak, without spring, without moral strength, but f…"

"Everything is music for the born musician."

"His loyal and eager nature, brought for the first time to the test of love, gave itself utterly, and demanded a gift …"

"When Christophe at last made up his mind to go to bed, chilled in body and soul, he heard the window below him shut. …"

"[D]id he then love God, or was it only the music, as an impudent priest said to him one day in jest, without thinking…"

"Wrong or right, he would never again for anything in the world have recourse to a priest. He admitted that these men …"

"Be reverent before the dawning day. Do not think of what will be in a year, or in ten years. Think of to-day. Leave y…"

"You are a vain fellow. You want to be a hero. That is why you do such silly things. A hero! ... I don't quite know wh…"

"[P]erhaps there are in us forces other than mind and heart, other even than the senses — mysterious forces which take…"