It is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain the services of first-class conductors. They are sick and tired of dealing with singers, as I am.

We are similar to a museum. My function is to present old masterpieces in modern frames.

Miss Renata Tebaldi was always sweet and very firm... she had dimples of iron.

Expressions of disapproval are on a level of vulgarity that cannot be tolerated. The way to express disapproval is to do without applause.

The opera always loses money. That's as it should be. Opera has no business making money.

It is so much worse to be a mediocre artist than to be a mediocre post-office clerk.

How nice the human voice is when it isn't singing.

We want an ensemble of stars, not comets.

I will not enter into a public feud with Madame Callas, since I am well aware that she has considerably greater competence and experience at that kind of thing than I have.

I never socialized with singers. It's very dangerous if you work with opera... I don't think that in 30 years a singer has entered my apartment.

I never for a moment believed they would perform at 10 o'clock in the morning. It's hard enough getting them to perform at 8 at night.

I used to wonder if it was God's plan that I should be alone for so much of my life. But I found peace. I found happiness within people and the world.

One does not cease to treasure a gem simply because one owns another that is larger.

My Vocabularies vary, its so exclusionary You'll find my baby pictures in modern dictionaries Next to mighty mercenaries, and visual visionaries

America went into Iraq. We shouldn't have gone into Iraq. We shouldn't have gotten out the way we got out. The world is a total mess.

Somehow, the things my mother wanted to do, the release in evangelism she sought with such frenzy, were transferred to me.

You know, when the cost of capital goes down, when credit becomes cheap, people start taking greater and greater risks.

Music creates a certain mood and then people dress accordingly. I think it's all quite closely intertwined.

Ironically, the first thing that appealed to me about Islam was its pluralism. The fact that the Koran praises all the great prophets of the past.

If you are a member of the media, you belong to the public. You've made that Faustian bargain with your public. Take me – all of me – I'm yours.

The cosy glow which had been enveloping the Duke became shot through by a sudden chill. It was as if he had been luxuriating in a warm shower bath, and some hidden hand had turned on the cold tap.