A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.

I simply make music, and people have always been foolish enough to pay me for it. I never told them that I would have done it all for nothing.

Conscience is that which hurts when everything else feels marvelous.

The highest reaches of music come thrillingly close to the central core and essence of life itself.

As a boy I remember how terribly real the statues of the saints would seem at 7 o'clock Mass-before I'd had breakfast. From that I learned always to conduct hungry.

Music appeals to me for what can be done with it.

On matters of intonation and technicalities I am more than a martinet - I am a martinetissimo.

The best the world has to offer comes from the best you have to give to others.

The height the dupe has fallen is measured by his anger.

You can either practice being right or practice being kind.

A man who cannot control his temper is not very likely to control his passions.

Mankind which began in a cave and behind a windbreak will end in the disease-soaked ruins of a slum.

I'm used to being crazy and "rock-n-rolly", which is a little different than this world. For me, it was a chance to stretch a little bit.

When you keep God in first place, He will take you to places you've never dreamed of

When I became Prime Minister, I looked back on what was done before – what were the policies and actions before – and I thought that I need to be critical if I’m going to do anything at all.

I felt something impossible for me to explain in words. Then, when they took her away, it hit me. I got scared all over again and began to feel giddy. Then it came to me... I was a father.

Good ideas have no value because the world already has too many of them. The market rewards execution, not ideas.