In order to arrive at a personal style, you have to have a technique to begin with.

I don't know what I'm doing and it's the not knowing that makes it interesting.

You practice and you get better. It's very simple.

A new language requires a new technique. If what you're saying doesn't require a new language, then what you're saying probably isn't new.

You get up early in the morning and you work all day. That’s the only secret.

The work I've done is the work I know, and the work I do is the work I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing.

What I've noticed is that people who love what they do, regardless of what that might be, tend to live longer.

What you hear depends on how you focus your ear. We're not talking about inventing a new language, but rather inventing new perceptions of existing languages.

I travel the world, and I'm happy to say that America is still the great melting pot - maybe a chunky stew rather than a melting pot at this point, but you know what I mean.

I've been called a minimalist composer for more than 30 years, and while I've never really agreed with the description, I've gotten used to it.

What came to me as a revelation was the use of rhythm in developing an overall structure in music.

Maidens who stay maidens turn into saints. Old women become sorceresses. Tough jobs, both of these.

Failure in the past does not nullify purpose in the future.

They cant censor the gleam in my eye.

In the face of pain there are no heroes.

One day an army of gray-haired women may quietly take over the Earth!

A band is only as good as its euphonium section.

Words are what created our world. Words are what keep it going.

What a lot of things I don't need.

Waking up to you is like... presents on Christmas morning." His mouth curved. "For your convenience, I'm already unwrapped. Batteries not required.

You don't always have to show art in what's called a white box; you can have a kind of complexity within an exhibit which actually respects the art as well.