Perfection & Music

"To excell in music, it is necessary to have an insatiable ambition, love and desire, to spare no pains and labour, and to have the courage to support all the discomforts which meet one in this kind of life . . . a noble obstinacy . . . which inspires us to perfect ourselves more and more."
—Joachim Quantz, Essay, Berlin, 1752

"Perfection in any skill cannot be attained unto without the waste of many yeares, much cost, and excessive labour and industrie."
—Robert Dowland (son of John Dowland), Varietie of Lute-lessons, London, 1610

"Perfection is death. I breath life into every note."
—attributed to Wanda Landowska by Albert Fuller