“People are wrong when they say that the opera isn't what it used to be. It is what it used to be — that's what's wrong with it!”

— Noel Coward , Design for Living

Design for Living, Act 3, Scene I (1933).

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "People are wrong when they say that the opera isn't what it used to be. It is what it used to be — that's what's wrong …" by Noel Coward?

Noel Coward 49

English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer 1899–1973

Sara Gruen book Water for Elephants

Source: Water for Elephants

“Mama says that satisfaction isn't what I should search for. Respect is. Respect?
I detest that word. Probably because in this world you have to respect the wrong people for the wrong reasons.”

Melina Marchetta book Looking for Alibrandi

Source: Looking for Alibrandi

“It isn't what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it's what we say to ourselves about what happens.”

Pema Chödron (1936) American philosopher

“What do you think of Puccini?
[ Britten: "I think his operas are dreadful." ]
No, Ben, you are wrong. He wrote marvellous operas, but dreadful music.”

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) Russian composer and pianist

Quoted in Lord Harewood The Tongs and the Bones (1981) p. 133.

“The question we all must ponder is - what is wrong with us?”

Francis Escudero (1969) Filipino politician

2009, Speech: The Socio-Economic Peace Program of Senator Francis Escudero

“A European says: I can't understand this, what's wrong with me? An American says: I can't understand this, what's wrong with him?”

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author

Interview, quoted in "Words from the Master" http://www.co.uk.lspace.org/books/apf/words-from-the-master.html in The Annotated Pratchett File http://www.co.uk.lspace.org/books/apf/index.html
General sources
Context: As for The Mapp... I suspect it'll never get a US publication. It seemed to frighten US publishers. They don't seem to understand it.
That seems to point up a significant difference between Europeans and Americans:
A European says: I can't understand this, what's wrong with me? An American says: I can't understand this, what's wrong with him?
I make no suggestion that one side or the other is right, but observation over many years leads me to believe it is true.