Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.

I said to my friends that if I was going to starve, I might as well starve where the food is good.

In Paris, you learn wit, in London you learn to crush your social rivals, and in Florence you learn poise.

I seem to write an opera about every 20 years; if you live long enough you can write four operas. I finished my third in 1970.

Let your mind alone, and see what happens.

The way to write American music is simple. All you have to do is be an American and then write any kind of music you wish.

I listened to the pure crystalline notes of one of Mozart's concertos dropping at my feet like leaves from the trees.

I've never known a musician who regretted being one. Music itself is not going to let you down.

A libretto that should never have been accepted on a subject that should never have been chosen bya man who should never have attempted it.

Reviewing music or reviewing anything is a writing job. It's nice if you are experienced in the field you are writing about, but writing is what you are doing.

Musicians own music because music owns them.

Half is better than none unless it be of a wit.

Liberty is always dangerous - but it is the safest thing we have.

An inner darkness is darker than an outer darkness.

You know, it's always good to have seen a track before, just to kind of know where the little bumps are here and there, and just the general feel for the size.

God, teach me to be patient, teach me to go slow

Our culture now wonderfully, alchemically transforms images and history into artistic material. The possibilities seem endless and wide open.

Ninety percent of my best friends back home are plumbers, electricians, builders, or landscapers. Most of our dads worked in trades.

Social Security must be preserved and strengthened. But we need to be candid about the costs and willing to make the tough choices that real reform will require.

The alchemist of the West has turned stone into glass But my alchemy has transmuted glass into flint Pharaohs of today have stalked me in vain

Who doesn't want to know that we notice them and value them? And who might respond to us better when they feel that they matter? It probably cannot be overstated - it matters...that people matter.