I think anything that is expressed directly and as honestly as possible will last.

It seems to me opera is just as relevant as an expressive art as anything else.

We think the Puritans always dressed in black and white, which they didn't. They loved very bright colors. And there were other differences in perceptions that gave one a very different view of them.

Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.

I found a certain kind of music congenial to me; it never occurred to me to write music that was academically acceptable.

The story of Willie Stark fascinated me because it was tackling the story of a man who outwardly has all the success one could possibly want and who is destroyed by his personal demons.

Most of the important composers in our country are clustered in the Northeast.

If something is successful with the audience, it's automatically suspect; the reverse is to say that not to reach audiences is the greatest compliment an artist can receive!

There is something inherent in our democracy that tends to want to level. America is a little uncomfortable in the presence of someone who is distinctly superior in whatever way.

What is American music? The most satisfying answer I've come across is that it was a kind of natural comfort with the vernacular which is diverse and regional; it's not one particular set of sounds.

If an American audience is given a serious musical theater piece that is well produced, dramatically gripping and wonderfully acted, they'll respond to it.

Conviction is having the mindset to never doubt your self-understanding

In the fall, she knew it was Death who sweetened the apples.

Don’t live a normal life by default, push the boundaries of your potential.

Everyone here says in a surprised manner that I have grown... they are so stupid and do not notice that I am standing up straighter!

Most of my friends are people I've known since I was a kid. I don't have an entourage or anything.

You can only have bliss if you don't chase it.

She had a certain way of looking at life which he took as a personal offense.

I don't have a lot of physical comedy instincts. I'm more verbal.

The bad-boy label is just an assumption.

An artist gives. Gives visually, gives through courses, or with free advice, through generosity of spirit and through a need to share.