The advent of electronically synthesized sound after World War II has unquestionably had enormous influence on music in general.

If we look at music history closely, it is not difficult to isolate certain elements of great potency which were to nourish the art of music for decades, if not centuries.

Although technical discussions are interesting to composers, I suspect that the truly magical and spiritual powers of music arise from deeper levels of our psyche.

The rhythms of nature - the sounds of wind and water, the sounds of birds and insects - must inevitably find their analogues in music.

Perhaps two million years ago the creatures of a planet in some remote galaxy faced a musical crisis similar to that which we earthly composers face today.

The retrospective glance is a relatively easy gesture for us to make.

Perhaps of all the most basic elements of music, rhythm most directly affects our central nervous system.

I believe that music surpasses even language in its power to mirror the innermost recesses of the human soul

Music might be defined as a system of proportions in the service of a spiritual impulse

I am certain that most composers today would consider today's music to be rich, not to say confusing, in its enormous diversity of styles, technical procedures, and systems of esthetics.

Unquestionably, our contemporary world of music is far richer, in a sense, than earlier periods, due to the historical and geographical extensions of culture to which I have referred.

If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live

He was agitated for some reason that he could not name. (page 35)

Inequality and hierarchy are natural, but that doesn't mean they are right, that doesn't mean there is isn't a productive tension between those forces and the forces of equality.

The great mass of humanity should never learn to read or write.

It's easier to stop bad things than to pass good things.

Say, ‘Thank you, Phin.’ ” “Oh, please.” “Say, Thank youvery much, Phin. ” “I don’t think so.” “Say, ‘You are a great lover, Phin.’ ” “I’m out of here.

It's amazing what storms your face can hide, what terrible wrecks can writhe and heave beneath, without one ripple on the surface.

For us, from Korea's perspective, China is the number one investment destination as well as number one trading partner.

Detroits industrial ruins are picturesque, like crumbling Rome in an 18th-century etching.

Leadership is not communicating what we need. Leadership is communicating what we can contribute.