I try to conceal art with art.

Nature endows us with the feeling that moves us in all our musical experiences; we might call her gift instinct.

We must have recourse to the rules of music when our genius and our ear seem to deny what we are seeking.

When reason and instinct are reconciled, there will be no higher appeal.

Music is a science which should have definite rules; these rules should be drawn from an evident principle; and this principle cannot really be known to us without the aid of mathematics.

Emphasis on the common emotive or affective origins of music and words in the first cries of humankind undermines words.

Rhythm and sounds are born with syllables.

In f-major, c* is a sonority contained within the overtones of the tonic f*.

Verse, singing, and speech have a common origin.

Though no one can backtrack and create a brand new start, Everyone is capable of taking their life in a brand new direction.

[I would] rather discover one cause than gain the kingdom of Persia.

John Barry was my hero when I was about 13. His scores to the James Bond movies were the scores of my life back then.

It's one of the functions of the theater to shock and titillate and appall, apart from entertain and delight.

You're a master on blues piano. The real deal.

I'm not like a persona. I'm not a caricature of myself.

[On marriage:] Someone once said that it was like a crowded church - those outside were endeavouring to get in, and those inside were making violent efforts to get out.

The core of common culture is religion. Tribes survive and flourish because they have gods, who fuse many wills into a single will, and demand and reward the sacrifices on which social life depends.

I'm just here to be your friend. Your best friend, one last time.

Perceptions of impossibility are commonly disspelled by unmitigated courage and perseverance.