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What can be considered human emotions? Surely not only lyricism, sadness, tragedy? Doesn't laughter also have a claim to that lofty title? I want to fight for the legitimate right of laughter in "serious" music.

— Dmitri Shostakovich

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More quotes by Dmitri Shostakovich

Real music is always revolutionary, for it cements the ranks of the people; it arouses them and leads them onward.

The Power of Music (1964)

The real geniuses know where their writing has to be good and where they can get away with some mediocrity.

It's about the people, who have stopped believing because the cup of evil has run over.

Testimony (1979)

I always try to make myself as widely understood as possible, and if I don't succeed I consider it's my own fault.

When a man is in despair, it means that he still believes in something.

Testimony (1979)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Dmitri Shostakovich (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.