For too long, musicians have been the greatest enemy of music. Their lack of desire to proselytize is a kind of betrayal.

I hate playing the piano! And it's so hard to fight for Beethoven's soul! But that's what I have to do!

[As a conductor] there has to be, between me and the orchestra, an unshakable bond of trust, born out of mutual respect, through which we can spin a musical narrative that we all believe in.

All roads for me lead back to Mozart. In his tragically short life, he breathed new life, fire and meaning into every form of music that existed in his time.

Music is a lens through which to see who we are. Every phrase of every piece of music is trying to tell a story.

A true man loves his enemies as much he loves his friends.

Human Salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.

I made decisions that I regret, and I took them as learning experiences... I'm human, not perfect, like anybody else.

If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me.

Any man who takes a job with the idea that it is simply a springboard for something else is a chump. His attention will be more on the other things than on the job at hand and so he will fail.

Working myself into a position of total versatility, so that I can do anything I want to do at the time I want to do it. Whether I do it or not is another question.

There was a time in medieval England when they had wandering minstrels ... A wandering minstrel would have been Frank Sinatra's counterpart had he lived during the time of Henry II in 1190 or 1180.

I love cookies baking. During the winter, they have these candles that smell like cookies, and I always buy like a hundred of them.

What happens outwardly in your life is not as important as what happens inside you. Your circumstances are temporary, but your character will last forever.

I'm not feeling undertaxed. Tax reform is an important issue. You have to have an inherent sense of fairness.