Melodic invention is one of the surest signs of a divine gift.

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.

in time to come be shaped by the human mind.” Asked

Music is the doorway that has led me to drawing, photography, and writing.

To any honest observer, Zimbabwe's sin is that it has taken the position to right a wrong, whose resolution has been too long overdue--to return its land to its people.

Poetry is a perfectly reasonable means of overcoming chaos.

1994 GOP victory destroyed bipartisanship.

Race you to the road?" I said. "You are so going to lose." She (Annabeth) took off down Half-Blood Hill and I sprinted after her. For once, I didn't look back.

Pride dies 20 minutes after death.

The bride hath paced into the hall, Red as a rose is she.

Be dignified, honest and truthful.

I'm not getting up in the helicopter. I have a premonition that I'm going to get killed in a helicopter crash.