A conductor should guide rather than command.

Music does not know the difference between people; it only speaks to their hearts. It is the only form of communication that can bring this terrible world together.

The conductor's stand is not a continent of power, but rather an island of solitude.

Nobility of spirit has more to do with simplicity than ostentation, wisdom rather than wealth, commitment rather than ambition.

I'm not shy in the spotlight. I might seem austere and even arrogant, but far from it, I'm actually shy.

You have to be able to enthral and persuade at the same time.

You have to channel the interpretation and performance into 100 people. And with the audience, the critics.

Soccer and sports are entertainment ... You can't call Beethoven's 9th Symphony or a work of Shakespeare 'entertainment.' It's not 'entertainment.' It's culture.

It is extraordinary to have time to again study Le nozze di Figaro and discover new things.

There's something terribly weird about the standard fantasy setting--not least of which the fact the phrase "standard fantasy setting" can be uttered without irony.

Eddie discovered one of his childhood's great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought.

Withheld potential is a "CRIME TO HUMANITY

To specialize is to brush one tooth. When a person specializes he channels all of his energies through one narrow conduit

If I had wanted to ice the little toad, I would have done it a long time ago.

I love all those stupid, cheesy chat-up lines like 'Did God take the stars out of the sky and put them into your eyes?' But I never get chatted up.

Every White House has had its intellectuals, but very few presidents have been intellectuals themselves - Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Woodrow Wilson, the list more or less stops there.

I appreciate film actors who respect the film making process.

Philosophically, I feel that India will progress only if we work as teams.