Composers and musicians have always starved and, as this is a sentimental country, we think the tradition should be continued.

The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought.

They are quite hopeless - drooling, driveling, doleful, depressing, dropsical drips.

Composers should write tunes that chauffeurs and errand boys can whistle.

The trouble with women in an orchestra is that if they're attractive it will upset my players and if they're not it will upset me.

"Have you heard any Stockhausen?" Beecham was asked. "No, but I believe I have stepped in some."

Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands and all you can do is scratch it.

The sound of a harpsichord - two skeletons copulating on a tin roof in a thunderstorm.

Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory.

There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish together. The public doesn't give a damn what goes on in between.

It is quite untrue that British people don't appreciate music. They may not understand it but they absolutely love the noise it makes.

It is one thing to believe in witches, and quite another to believe in witch-smellers.

In some peculiar way, indeed, the rules were now beginning to seem quite logical. It was then I knew that I had been in India long enough.

You’re going back?” asked Bod. Things that had been immutable were changing. “You’re really leaving? But. You’re my guardian.”

I've spent years trying to time up my drops with my throws. You learn to listen to your feet and trust your positions.

Because the world is radically new, the ideal encyclopedia should be radical, too.

"Yeah sure, why not?" i said, making a mental note to get a good look at his wings. For all I knew, they were remote-controlled and duct taped to his back.

I don't think, if anything, I don't think it's a feeling of hopelessness that people feel. I think if they feel - if they're feeling what we're feeling, it's that this is how we fight back.

The consumption of information, films, music has been changing in recent decades. It's hard to know what will become the film that can not easily reach [audiences].

I enjoy popularisation and I think I'm reasonably good at it. I also think it's a duty. It's just so pedagogically stupid to forget how difficult one found these ideas oneself to begin with.

Our Lord approved neither idol worship or idle worship but ideal worship in Spirit and truth.