As an art form, opera is a rare and remarkable creation. For me, it expresses aspects of the human drama that cannot be expressed in any other way, or certainly not as beautifully.

People think I'm disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion. There is a great difference.

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.

I think a life in music is a life beautifully spent, and this is what I have devoted my life to.

The rivalry is with ourself. I try to be better than is possible. I fight against myself, not against the other.

If children are not introduced to music at an early age, I believe something fundamental is actually being taken from them.

Music making is the most joyful activity possible, the most perfect expression of any emotion.

Some singers want the audience to love them. I love the audience.

Learning music by reading about it is like making love by mail.

You don't need any brains to listen to music.

Am I afraid of high notes? Of course I am afraid. What sane man is not?

The hardest thing is a man to truly know himself

I think at this stage in my life I have learned that there are any number of things that men will never know, and can never hope to know, about women.

It's not an easy gig, being in the NRL sometimes: you always feel for the boys because you have that mutual respect knowing what they go through.

Who are we to wish for Paradise? It will be enough if Allah spares us his wrath.

What I learned as an actor was the only way you could really do August Wilson's work, you had to leave an ounce of your essence on that stage,... Otherwise it was impossible.

Musicians more than most people are in the moment. That's the dual nature of that job.

The deepest thing in any one is the conviction of the bad luck that follows boasting.

The first step in blogging is not writing them but reading them.

A black star appears, a point of darkness in the night sky's clarity. Point of darkness and gateway to repose. Reach out, pierce the fine fabric of the sheltering sky, take repose.

Never hit if you can help it, but when you have to, hit hard. Never hit soft. You'll never get any thanks for hitting soft.