Percy Bysshe Shelley on music

Revenge is the naked idol of the worship of a semi-barbarous age.

Gold is a living god and rules in scorn,
All earthly things but virtue.

Love’s very pain is sweet,
But its reward is in the world divine
Which, if not here, it builds beyond the grave.

If music be the food of love, play on.

William Shakespeare1564–1616Twelfth Night (1601), Act I, scene i.In context

• Love

Music makes one feel so romantic⁠—at least it always gets on one’s nerves⁠—which is the same thing nowadays.

Oscar Wilde1854–1900

• Love

Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.