In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of.

If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never have an ensemble. therefore, respect every musician in his proper place.

The principal mark of genius is not perfection, but originality.

To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist.

Talent works, genius creates.

When you play, never mind who listens to you.

For me, music is always the language which permits one to converse with the Beyond.

Play always as if in the presence of a master.

I am so fresh in soul and spirit that life gushes and bubbles around me in a thousand springs.

When you play, do not trouble yourself as to who is listening. Yet always play as though a master listened to you.

Art was not created as a way to riches. Strive to become a true artist; all else will take care of itself.

one idiot can shut 1000 wise men mouths, where as 1000 wise will fail to open the eyes of an idiot.

I was so sure that I knew what they needed and what I wanted to sell them that I never stopped long enough to find out what it was they wanted to buy.

Friends are family members we have a choice over.

The harder life is for a man when he is young, the easier it will be in the future.

Democratic institutions generally give men a lofty notion of their country and themselves.

It is quite impossible to understand the character of a person from one action, however striking that action may be.

Maybe that is what marriage is: Two people creating a cult together.

There's no such thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but I'll never see it.

Patience is a strength, not a weakness; and if by practicing patience we stop retaliating to harm and criticism, people will gradually come to understand that our real nature is very special

I'm better than dirt. Well, most kinds of dirt, not that fancy store-bought dirt... I can't compete with that stuff.