I saved some quotes in a list at the top of my audio notes.
These are the first three.
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. - Epicurius
Since the beginning of high-end audio reproduction, there has been a notion promoted: It's going to sound like the real thing. That's a fantasy. It doesn't sound like the real thing, and it never can. … [the goal is] an acceptable sound, which provides the maximum amount of information contained in the software within the limitations of the listening environment. - Richard Sequerra
When I go to Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center in Philadephia and sit in my favorite seat to listen to the Philadelphia Orchestra, I realize that 137 years after the original Edison phonograph audio technology still hasn’t quite caught up with unamplified live music in a good acoustic venue. To be sure, my state-of-the-art stereo system renders a startlingly faithful imitation of a grand piano, a string quartet, or a jazz trio, but a symphony orchestra or a large chorus? Close but no cigar. - Peter Aczel