Do you know that my very first experience as a composer was a 'Concerto for Accordion?

I would wake up in Moscow or somewhere else, my heart beating fast, feeling bitter and helpless.

For almost thirty years I repeatedly saw one and the same dream: I would arrive in Vienna at long last. I would feel really happy, for I was returning to my serene childhood.

I am not (yet) facing the problem of emigration. I want my music to be acknowledged here first of all, in this country: after that, we shall see - perhaps the question will then become urgent.

I set down a beautiful chord on paper—and suddenly it rusts.

I attempt to compose symphonies, although it is clear to me that logically it is pointless.

For a solo work I need a definite idea. For the present I have none.

Where could I call home? Only in my heart.

A silence followed, while the two men contemplated dying for love.

Life has no blessing like a prudent friend.

Contraception really shouldn't be all that controversial because it's a tool a woman can use to delay her first birth until she's, say, 18 or 19 years old.

What the warrior renounces is anything in his experience that is a barrier between himself and others. In other words, renunciation is making yourself more available, more gentle and open to others.

I don't know if winning at any cost is wrong or not. There are times I've thought that the end justified the means.

I was shaking all over, and it wasn't from the vampire. Memories have teeth, too.

It’s always more intriguing to imagine what’s happening, as opposed to seeing everything, because then you can use your imagination. I always wanted to be at a distance.

Never tell a crazy person he’s crazy.

Man is the only creature we know, that, when the term of his natural life is ended, leaves the memory of himself behind him.