I'm my own most merciless critic onstage.

The way I think about the practicing, it is my undercover work.

If you already have a piece of music ingrained in your body, why would you not play it?

If music is sound & came from silence, then silence is potentially greater than sound.

Creativity is what makes humanity move. We were created to participate.

I cannot say what I think is right about Music. I only know the rightness of it.

Ideally, I'd like to be the eternal novice, for then only the surprises would be endless.

I believe that a truly valuable artist must be an artist who realizes the impossibility of his task -and then continues to do it.

One thing you learn: if you want to reveal yourself, you also have to know where to stop.

Silence is the potential from which music can arise.

Jazz is one of the least learnable art forms.

Be leery of silence. It doesn't mean you won the argument. Often, people are just busy reloading their guns.

Human rights

The spiritual life is part of the human essence. It is a defining characteristic of human nature, without which human nature is not fully human.

The monk that invented gunpowder did as much to stop war as did all the sermons of his brethren.

That is the voice of God because its the voice of truth and experience.

Earthquakes would be great if they could hit specific areas, like the parent lounge at a children's beauty pageant.

It is a besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law. This is the usual form in which masses of men exhibit their tyranny.

Never take no for answer, and try to make films that turn you on.

Lord, bend me, or I shall rot. Lord do not bend me too much, for I shall break. Lord bend me too much, who cares if I break!

I'm hoping that what I am or what I'm not ethnically doesn't limit me in anyone else's eyes. I guarantee you it doesn't in mine.