I listened to the pure crystalline notes of one of Mozart's concertos dropping at my feet like leaves from the trees.

I said to my friends that if I was going to starve, I might as well starve where the food is good.

Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.

In Paris, you learn wit, in London you learn to crush your social rivals, and in Florence you learn poise.

I seem to write an opera about every 20 years; if you live long enough you can write four operas. I finished my third in 1970.

Let your mind alone, and see what happens.

The way to write American music is simple. All you have to do is be an American and then write any kind of music you wish.

I've never known a musician who regretted being one. Music itself is not going to let you down.

A libretto that should never have been accepted on a subject that should never have been chosen bya man who should never have attempted it.

Reviewing music or reviewing anything is a writing job. It's nice if you are experienced in the field you are writing about, but writing is what you are doing.

Musicians own music because music owns them.

Selecting the right measure and measuring things right are both art and science. And KPIs influence management behavior as well as business culture.

When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best -- that is inspiration.

A five-word sentence that could change the world tomorrow is "What would love do now?"

Unlike most European countries, the police in the US are decentralized; even the FBI has regional offices. Amending the constitution is a long and tedious process.

Some of the best advice I got from a close friend is marriage is always looked at from the world as 50/50 as to working together to make that 100 percent.

May my life be like a great hospitable tree, and may weary wanderers find in me a rest.

We do not need to wait for the Holy Spirit to come: he came on the day of Pentecost. He has never left the church.

I was a fine arts major in college, and a painter for many years. And I found that, like writing, art is very similar.

I trust myself to deal with any problems that arise during the day

Manhandling the open here spout on a milk carton so badly that one has to resort to using the illegal side.