We live in the least ugly time in history.

I don't want to portray myself as a daredevil. I'm not at all.

The best way to refine an interpretation is by getting out and performing.

I hope I will always have the chance to play the violin.

When you play a violin piece, you are a storyteller, and you're telling a story.

You only live once, so I try to say yes to everything.

You don't have to have lots of love affairs to know what love is.

Kids need to be structured in some way, but you don't want to force something down their throats that they have no interest in.

There's nothing more frustrating than seeing a conductor say, 'Play softer,' as they're waving their hands in huge gestures.

Conducting is a strange thing to teach.

Actors want to do Shakespeare again and again, or want to do Hamlet. When you hear one guy do Hamlet and another guy do it, it's going to be a whole different experience.

The tune was wailing and mournful, almost flagrantly so, and the total effect was of a heartbroken piccolo being parted forever from its bagpipe lover.

I MET MY SOUL, IT WAS WRITTEN IN A LANGUAGE KNOWN TO BE TONED FOR DARKNESS BUT LIGHT IN TRUTH

Perfectionism becomes a badge of honor with you playing the part of the suffering hero.

Confusion comes from trying to amalgamate several conflicting ideas.

What I go for in my cooking is sinful, bold and real.

Writers are always selling somebody out.

Your real security is yourself. You know you can do it, and they can't ever take that away from you.

You're never quite sure how you feel about a neighbor until a 'For Sale' sign suddenly appears in front of his house.

Writing is very much like bricklaying. You learn to put one brick on top of another and spread the mortar so thick.

When grace changes the heart, submission out of fear changes to submission out of love, and true humility is born.