Quotes from Amadeus

Peter Shaffer ·  160 pages

Rating: (14.9K votes)


“I looked on astounded as from his ordinary life he made his art. We were both ordinary men, he and I. Yet from the ordinary he created Legends--and I from Legends created only the ordinary!”
― Peter Shaffer, quote from Amadeus


“Goodness is nothing in the furnace of art.”
― Peter Shaffer, quote from Amadeus


“What use, after all, is man, if not to teach God His lessons?”
― Peter Shaffer, quote from Amadeus


“God was singing through this little man to all the world.”
― Peter Shaffer, quote from Amadeus


“Tell me, before you call us servants, who served whom? And who, I wonder, in your generations, will immortalize you?”
― Peter Shaffer, quote from Amadeus



“Oh, you monster!No one exists but you, do they? You and your music!”
― Peter Shaffer, quote from Amadeus


“Emperor Joseph II: My dear young man, don't take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It's quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that's all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect.

Mozart: Which few did you have in mind, Majesty?”
― Peter Shaffer, quote from Amadeus


About the author

Peter Shaffer
Born place: in Liverpool, England, The United Kingdom
Born date May 15, 1926
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Thank you for this, Sebastian. Thank you for bringing me."

Sebastian's expression told me that outdoor sex at the top of a mountain pass in the snow was suddenly on his 'to do' list.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, quote from The Education of Caroline


“Groucho Marx once said he found television very educational. “Every time someone turns it on,” he said, “I go in the other room to read a book.”
― Steve Chandler, quote from 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself: Change Your Life Forever


“LORD ILLINGWORTH What do you think she'd do if I kissed her?
MRS ALLONBY Either marry you, or strike you across the face with her glove. What would you do if she struck you across the face with her glove?
LORD ILLINGWORTH Fall in love with her, probably.”
― Oscar Wilde, quote from A Woman of No Importance


“Heaven lies around us in our infancy.”
― William Golding, quote from Darkness Visible


“I cannot break the chains you forged against yourself.”
― Jeff Wheeler, quote from The Scourge of Muirwood


Interesting books

A Different Blue
(21.8K)
A Different Blue
by Amy Harmon
Life and Death in Shanghai
(9.4K)
Life and Death in Sh...
by Nien Cheng
Blood Rites
(19K)
Blood Rites
by Quinn Loftis
City of the Beasts
(23.6K)
City of the Beasts
by Isabel Allende
Deerskin
(18.3K)
Deerskin
by Robin McKinley
Main Street
(21.4K)
Main Street
by Sinclair Lewis

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.