Most of the important composers in our country are clustered in the Northeast.

It seems to me opera is just as relevant as an expressive art as anything else.

We think the Puritans always dressed in black and white, which they didn't. They loved very bright colors. And there were other differences in perceptions that gave one a very different view of them.

Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.

I found a certain kind of music congenial to me; it never occurred to me to write music that was academically acceptable.

The story of Willie Stark fascinated me because it was tackling the story of a man who outwardly has all the success one could possibly want and who is destroyed by his personal demons.

If something is successful with the audience, it's automatically suspect; the reverse is to say that not to reach audiences is the greatest compliment an artist can receive!

There is something inherent in our democracy that tends to want to level. America is a little uncomfortable in the presence of someone who is distinctly superior in whatever way.

What is American music? The most satisfying answer I've come across is that it was a kind of natural comfort with the vernacular which is diverse and regional; it's not one particular set of sounds.

If an American audience is given a serious musical theater piece that is well produced, dramatically gripping and wonderfully acted, they'll respond to it.

I find it enormously valuable to be sure that that the pacing is what I think it is and that the scenes have the shape I think they have musically and dramatically.

What I look forward to is continued immaturity followed by death.

The more things you have in common with the normal population the more you are not being yourself.

Haemon: No city is property of a single man.Creon: But custom gives possession to the ruler.Haemon: You'd rule a desert beautifully alone.

Charming. We're going to be murdered in our beds.

Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.

Excellence in art is largely the result of attention to minutiae, and--prayer.

This thing called rhymin' is no different than coal minin'; We both on assignment to unearth the diamond.

The most interesting thing about a postage stamp is the persistence with which it sticks to its job.

It'd be nice to have a new name, to start with, one that's not all worn out from being called so much.

Freedom does not come automatically; it is achieved. And it is not gained in a single bound; it must be achieved each day.