Composers love to write for symphony orchestras because the symphony is the Rolls Royce of musical instruments.

Well, American composers are the best composers. At this time in the world, we are where the energy is. We are the most diverse, the most iconoclastic, the most maverick, and the most skillful.

When I first wrote for orchestra, I didn't realize, when you have 20 people playing a violin line, that is very different than one person playing that line.

I began like all composers, writing for small groups. Chamber groups.

I've always been a composer dependent on texts.

That’s how it is, day after day... night after night. The Moon chases her sunsets constantly, hoping for a mere glimpse. And for him, that was enough.

Don't allow others to put a cap on you. Don't simply agree when someone draws your own finishing line. You're the captain of your destiny!!!

A myth is a lie that conveys a truth.

There's no system foolproof enough to defeat a sufficiently great fool.

As far as I'm concerned, the most important thing you need when inventing characters is empathy.

[Puggles] "What population signs on willingly for slavery?" "You mean other than wives?" [Glinda]

Because audiences all over the world can see an independent film almost anywhere and anytime, these new distribution outlets have opened a door that is revolutionizing the movie-going experience.

When I mentioned about Adlai Stevenson, if he was vice president there would never have been an assassination of our beloved President Kennedy

I think the reason people are dealing with science less well now than 50 years ago is that it has become so complicated.

Perhaps there is a minimum distance that should separate one exhibit from another... Indeed those specialized in psychophysics have actually come up with some rules.