People have a right to criticize.

People think I'm disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion. There is a great difference.

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.

I think a life in music is a life beautifully spent, and this is what I have devoted my life to.

The rivalry is with ourself. I try to be better than is possible. I fight against myself, not against the other.

If children are not introduced to music at an early age, I believe something fundamental is actually being taken from them.

Music making is the most joyful activity possible, the most perfect expression of any emotion.

Some singers want the audience to love them. I love the audience.

Learning music by reading about it is like making love by mail.

You don't need any brains to listen to music.

As an art form, opera is a rare and remarkable creation. For me, it expresses aspects of the human drama that cannot be expressed in any other way, or certainly not as beautifully.

Tomorrow is always a better day.

Silence is the loudest sound!

In my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined a sweeter life.

The soul shares not the body's test.

Playing 'bop' is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.

The more knowledge one person has of the other, the greater the intimacy within the relationship.

[Koudelka] looked back, "You?! I know you! You trust beyond reason!" [Cordelia] met his eyes steadily, "Yes, it's how I get results beyond hope, as you may recall.

If we were united and strong, we'd elect our own emir (leader) and give allegiance to him... Take my word, if 6-8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us.

I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the dignity of history.

I'm an audience member first. My inspiration is still based on hunger. Often, when people try to tell me "nobody wants that story; I'm like bullshit because I want it."