You explain how it went, and as far as you can figure out how it got that way.

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

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.

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.

Education is for freedom - freedom from mental slavery.

The greatest and most important problems in life are all in a certain sense insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown.

The best things in life are yours, if you can appreciate yourself.

It's hard to make changes. Things get so comfortable and you don't want to move. Maybe it would do you good to be a little uncomfortable for a while, and do something different.

Our true destiny...is a world built from the bottom up by competent citizens living in solid communities, engaged in and by their places.

Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.

To be impacted. Then, once a policy is determined, you call on them to help.

The story of the African-American people is the story of the settlement and growth of America itself, a universal tale that all people should experience.

A grateful heart is like a sponge that soaks up God's goodness.

Stop waiting for what you want, and start working what you've got. Your greatest limitation is God's greatest opportunity.