In its beginnings, music was merely chamber music, meant to be listened to in a small space by a small audience.

Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.

If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.

Beauty and fullness of tone can be achieved by having the whole orchestra play with high clarinets and a carefully selected number of piccolos.

You must renounce all superficiality, all convention, all vanity and delusion.

The point is not to take the world's opinion as a guiding star but to go one's way in life and working unerringly, neither depressed by failure nor seduced by applause.

What is best in music is not to be found in the notes.

A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.

But it's peculiar, as soon as I am in the midst of nature and by myself, everything that is base and trivial vanishes without trace. On such days nothing scares me; and this helps me again and again.

I am hitting my head against the walls, but the walls are giving way.

If you think you're boring your audience, go slower not faster.

At the heart of all of mankind’s achievements is imagination.

Love is a funny thing. The ones we love don't always love us back.

Time is one of my most valuable assets.

I grew up in the 90s, so Ive definitely resurrected many looks from my youth lately, including overalls, jelly shoes, and, of course, Doc Martens.

Art is a weapon for me, with which I can strike back.

As a personal matter, I stopped voting more than a decade ago, on the grounds that it helped me as an analyst not to think about making a choice in the voting booth.

Teachers deserve respect," I explain. "Why do they get it for free, when everyone else has to earn it?

Aint nobody here think we could get no win but us

Redemption is a magnificent thing ..the life of God in the soul of man

I find directing more satisfying.