My biggest problem about writing is whenever I write piano pieces, because I then have to learn to play them, which is sometimes not so easy.

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.

My family was too precious to forget, and too rare to replace.

Generally, there is a lot of truth value in stepping back, observing, then logically generalizing the extremes of what you see.

I have a very strong color theory, for instance, where in 'Powers,' green means powerless, and red means power.The story was all there, but I was desperate to make sure that extra level was the case.

Surrender to the deepest level within that you're aware of.

There's a lot of hurry up and wait. But it gives you time to write a song.

It's like that scene from The Player when they talk about merging Star Wars and Kramer vs. Kramer, or whatever. You could do that with music and it would just be awful.

I sometimes don't know what I'm writing when I start writing it, on some level.

Our minds have the need to know. When we dont know we make assumptions - they make us feel safer than not knowing. And we are pretty much always making assumptions.

Small towns are like metronomes; with the slightest flick, the beat changes.

Do you want to sell sugar water all your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?