“Life without music is unthinkable. Life without music is academic. That is why my contact with music is a total embrace.”

“Music, of all the arts, stands in a special region, unlit by any star but its own, and utterly without meaning ... except its own.”

“Music . . . can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.”

“This will be our reply to violence:to make music more intensely,more beautifully,more devotedly than ever before.”

“Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simply too long.”

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.”

“We're neither pure, nor wise, nor goodWe'll do the best we know.We'll build our house and chop our woodAnd make our garden grow.And make our garden grow!”