The derision comes from snobbery, which I think is the worst thing for art and music. I don't think there's any place for it and it comes from insecurity.

Classical music is a genre of music. It's no more complex or less complex than pop music or R&B. The elitism is weird.

Do you see dignity & grace as a state of emotional and spiritual being or a physical projection of courage and class? Perhaps they describe both.

Growing up in a particular neighborhood, growing up in a working-class family, not having much money, all of those things fire you and can give you an edge, can give you an anger.

When I am sad and wearyWhen I think all hope has goneWhen I walk along High HolbornI think of you with nothing on

I don't see what else you can spend your money on... If you want to own things, art is a pretty good bet.

The more you care, the stronger you can be.

Since the conception of our country, America has held that parents, not schools, teachers, and certainly not courts, hold the primary responsibility of educating their children.

The goal is not to make something factually impeccable, but seamlessly persuasive.

The spiritual experience isn’t one of filling ourselves up— with either religious or intellectual beliefs—but of emptying ourselves so that we can experience what is, directly, unfiltered.

One of the greatest weaknesses in most of us is our lack of faith in ourselves. One of our common failings is to depreciate our tremendous worth.

What is odious but . . . people . . . who toast their feet on the register. . . .