“Accept that I enjoy being with you. Accept that when I'm with you I see Heaven in your eyes.”

“for you, I am even willing to suffer. Whatever pain happens to us in the future, I accept it already, just for the pleasure of being with you now. Let’s enjoy this time. It’s marvelous.”

“Music, even at terrible moments, can make you accept so much more- accept your dark sides, or the things that happened to you. Maybe it's just because you see that we are not alone. And that's what the concert situation is about for me, when I'm sitting in the hall and also when I'm playing myself. It's about communication - I almost want to say 'communion'. As a player, you really don't interpret anymore. You listen, together, with the audience.”

“I am not asking you to understand, Papa. I'm asking for you to accept.""Accept what?"Me. Accept me, Papa. "My decision to live my own life as I see fit."It is so quiet that I suddenly wish I could take it back. Sorry, it was only a terrible joke. I should like a new dress, please.”

“But in Africa bureaucrats are usually too proud to accept a bribe, something I admire when I'm not the one being arrested.”

“When I accept myself, I am freed from the burden of needing you to accept me.”