I don't really think about retiring. I will retire just before people start saying, 'I knew Leonard Slatkin when he conducted well.

How could a New Yorker possibly take something called the Hollywood String Quartet seriously?

The role of an orchestra in the 21st century isn't just playing, it's about developing future audiences and performers.

We need music to restore the human spirit

I use my hands like a sculptor, to mold and shape the sound I want, to clarify.

The convergence of the Rhone and Saone. Paul Bocuse. The birthplace of cinema. Chateauneuf-du-Pape just a few miles down the road. It does not get much better than Lyon.

An orchestra knows during the first two minutes of the first rehearsal whether or not they are going to enjoy the person on the podium.

There is no 'perfect' in music. If I ever came off the stage and felt it could not be better, it would then be time to quit.

We are a global society, and one does not have to be from Germany to give a great performance of Beethoven.

Over the years it has been my privilege to lead performances with Saint Louis, the National Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra and so many other wonderful organizations.

I'm beginning to see that just knowing the piece is not enough. Having a clear technique is not enough. Having a broad repertory is not enough. I want desperately to get past all those things.

Everything that is, casts a shadow

Work is the major instrument for conversion

When I hear music I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times and to the latest.

Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves.

We have made people in the industry and the people that see us aware that God loves them

Life too is precious to waste - to spend on anything but the best.

In two months Joseph Kennedy had taken over my entire life, and I trusted him implicitly to make the most of it.

If you say "can't" you're restricting what you can do or ever will do.

I have full faith in my people that they will rise to every occasion worthy of our past Islamic history, glory and traditions.

Decency is not news; it is buried in the obituaries - but it is a force stronger than crime.