The sound of a harpsichord - two skeletons copulating on a tin roof in a thunderstorm.

The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought.

They are quite hopeless - drooling, driveling, doleful, depressing, dropsical drips.

Composers should write tunes that chauffeurs and errand boys can whistle.

The trouble with women in an orchestra is that if they're attractive it will upset my players and if they're not it will upset me.

"Have you heard any Stockhausen?" Beecham was asked. "No, but I believe I have stepped in some."

Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands and all you can do is scratch it.

Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory.

There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish together. The public doesn't give a damn what goes on in between.

It is quite untrue that British people don't appreciate music. They may not understand it but they absolutely love the noise it makes.

Her singing reminds me of a cart coming downhill with the brake on.

There's two kinds of women--those you write poems about and those you don't.

when we are powerless to do a thing, it is a great joy that we can come and step inside the ability of Jesus

I am grateful for the blessings of wealth, but it hasn't changed who I am. My feet are still on the ground. I'm just wearing better shoes.

I just bought a Mac to help me design the next Cray.

The poet wants justice. And the poet wants art. In poetry we can't have one without the other.

Repentance may begin instantly, but reformation often requires a sphere of years.

There won't be editors in the future with the Internet world, with citizen reporting. That doesn't scare me.

The left has chosen the courts as a major battlefield over social issues.

It’s impossible to say who has guns in Gaza anymore. The ballots are the only thing that can stop the violence at this point.

No short-cut that tries to bypass the patient unfolding of the true character of God, and our relationship to him as his children, can ever succeed in providing long-term spiritual therapy.