"To make an effective accelerando you must glide into rapidity as steadily as a train increases its speed when steaming out of a station."
"Teach yourself to make a rallentando evenly by watching the drops of water cease as you turn off a tap."
"A player with an unbalanced rhythm reminds me of an intoxicated man who cannot walk straight."
"Your fingers are like capering horses, spirited and willing, but ignorant of where to go without a guide. Put on your bridle and curb them in till they learn to obey you, or they will not serve you well."
On the whole he theorises very little. Everything he says is practical, to the point, and can be immediately used to some good end.
"If you are going to play a scale, place your hand in readiness on the keyboard in the same position as you would if you were going to write a letter—or to take a pinch of snuff."
"The bystander ought to know by the attitude of your hand what chord you are going to play before you play it, for each chord has its own physiognomy."
"If you play wrong notes, either you do not know where the note is or what the note is."
"If there is anything you cannot do after a fair trial, either there is something the matter with your hand, or with the way you are practising."