The best lives and stories are made up of minute particulars that somehow are also universal and of use to others as well as oneself.

The self is made, not given

...I do not want art for a few

There is no such thing as cheating. There is only winning or losing.

Happiness is a function of accepting what is.

For me music is a vehicle to bring our pain to the surface, getting it back to that humble and tender spot where, with luck, it can lose its anger and become compassion again.

The fans and supporters are also part of the Olympic family.

The forest of Compiegne. Look at it. Like a kind grandmother dozing in her rocking chair. Old trees practicing curtsies in the wind because they still think Louis XIV is king.

We live in a time when people give up too easy.

I refuse to let adversity allow me to be average.

The art of being sometimes audacious and sometimes very prudent is the secret of success.

Social peace requires reciprocity.