“You,” I said, “are sweet music in a distant room.”

“To play great music, you must keep your eyes on a distant star.”

“I decided then and there that the symphonies of Beethoven and Brahms were the only music for me, not the music of this crazy Russian. … My one desire was to flee that room and find a quiet corner in which to rest my aching head. Then Diaghilev turned to me and with a smile said, "This is a masterpiece, Monteux, which will completely revolutionize music and make you famous, because you are going to conduct it."”

“Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie.”

“Music needs room to breathe.”

“Bigger room, darling. Like I said, we need a bigger room.”

“You asked me once,' said O'Brien, 'what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world.”

“Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart.”

“They continued to watch each other from across the room, both frozen for a moment by the shadow of distant possibilities.”

“Sweet is the breath of vernal shower,
The bee's collected treasures sweet,
Sweet music's melting fall, but sweeter yet
The still small voice of gratitude.”