We are a global society, and one does not have to be from Germany to give a great performance of Beethoven.

How could a New Yorker possibly take something called the Hollywood String Quartet seriously?

The role of an orchestra in the 21st century isn't just playing, it's about developing future audiences and performers.

We need music to restore the human spirit

I use my hands like a sculptor, to mold and shape the sound I want, to clarify.

The convergence of the Rhone and Saone. Paul Bocuse. The birthplace of cinema. Chateauneuf-du-Pape just a few miles down the road. It does not get much better than Lyon.

An orchestra knows during the first two minutes of the first rehearsal whether or not they are going to enjoy the person on the podium.

There is no 'perfect' in music. If I ever came off the stage and felt it could not be better, it would then be time to quit.

I don't really think about retiring. I will retire just before people start saying, 'I knew Leonard Slatkin when he conducted well.

Over the years it has been my privilege to lead performances with Saint Louis, the National Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra and so many other wonderful organizations.

I'm beginning to see that just knowing the piece is not enough. Having a clear technique is not enough. Having a broad repertory is not enough. I want desperately to get past all those things.

I now see my life, not as a slow shaping of achievment to fit my preconceived purposes, but as the gradual discovery of a purpose which I did not know.

Too often the mentally ill are marginalized as people who just can’t pull up their socks. If only it were that simple.

Politics, as a practise, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds.

Confidence is a very important thing. But confidence isn't something you just develop by saying "I'm going to do this or that." You really have to believe it.

Go on... make a difference.

I'm not a guy that's going to brag or feel like I'm better than the group.

When you're eight years old, nothing is any of your business.

I'm drawn to people who share that sense of loss. All actors are trying to repair damaged relationships. I think that might be why I've been drawn to other actors.

If you want things to be different, perhaps the answer is to become different yourself.

You can only inspire when you give people a new way of looking at the world in which they live.