Inspiration may be a form of superconsciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness - I wouldn't know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness.

Someone once asked me... whether I waited for inspiration. My answer was: "Every day!"

You compose because you want to somehow summarize in some permanent form your most basic feelings about being alive, to set down some sort of permanent statement about the way it feels to live now, today.

The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking "Is there a meaning to music?" My answer would be, "Yes", And "Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?" My answer to that would be "No."

The greatest moments of the human spirit may be deduced from the greatest moments in music.

So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning.

The main thing is to be satisfied with your work yourself. It's useless to have an audience happy if you are not happy.