So I observe life a little bit, rather than participating in it.

The most perfect expression of human behavior is a string quartet.

Basically speaking, conducting is quite a healthy profession.

I was told when I went for a life-insurance exam when I was 18 that I was not likely to live past 50, so I refused to pay the premium.

I guess, as a conductor, one goes in and out of fashion. Your career starts with a bang, everyone thinks you're wonderful, and then with middle age, something happens and you go into the wilderness.

I had a sense of debt to the medical profession and to surgery particularly. I would not be as ambient as I am without it.

My head was a desolate place and as barren as the bare hills of Le Marche. Until I began to build in it, only vultures nested there.

None of us deserve God's forgiveness. The Bible says to forgive because God forgave us. It doesn't say anything about deserving it or even asking for it.

I am love, I am music, she thinks. Let’s dance.

What can be added to the happiness of man who is in health out of debt and has a clear conscience?

We live in a culture where everything tastes good but nothing satisfies.

None of the films I've done was designed for a mass audience, except for 'Indiana Jones.' Nobody in their right mind thought 'American Graffiti' or 'Star Wars' would work.

Poets wish to profit or to please.

Reason should investigate its own parameters before declaring its omniscience.

Pay any price to stay in the presence of extraordinary people.

The age of miracles has not past. The Miracle Worker is still ALIVE. His name is Jesus Christ!