I was encouraged by my mother and, to a lesser extent, by my father.

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.

Creators aren't gods. They make places, which is quite hard. It's men that make gods. This explains a lot.

If it weren't for acid, you might not have an IPod, and you definitely would not have some of the best music in your IPod.

Futurists don't consider overpopulation one of the issues of the future. They consider it the issue of the future.

I remember when my schedule was as flexible as she is.. She call and tell me 'be here before the sun up', I be dressed before we hung up

America is the first country... that can actually have a bloodless revolution.

Now, five years is nothing in a man's life except when he is very young and very old... - Wang Lung

Now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turnin' gold Turnin' from the past, at last and all I've left behind.

If women could go into your Congress, I think justice would soon be done to the Indians.

I also believe that Hurricane Katrina did reveal a weakness in our energy supply systems, highlighting the reliance this country has on the gulf coast for our energy resources.

Confidence is the most important thing, more important than gold or currency.