I loved playing football. In this particular match the ball happened to hit my right eye, the only one which I could see light and colour with.

I know that my passion is for opera, but sometimes I like also to sing songs, because there are many beautiful melodies.

Even in the most beautiful music there are some silences, which are there so we can witness the importance of silence.

A young pregnant wife has been hospitalized for a simple attack of appendicitis. The doctors had to apply ice to her stomach and when the treatments ended the doctors suggested that she abort the child, they told her it was the 'best solution' because the baby would be born with some disability but the young brave wife decided not to abort, and the child was born. That woman was my Mother and I was the child.

I do not think anyone can ever do anything without the help and will of God.

For me, riding a two-wheeler bike was very risky. Counting the pedal strokes before turning a corner and learning to hear the sounds coming from buildings, grass and the climbing frame made all the difference to basic survival and ensured that I didn't end up head-first in the sandpit.

What is beautiful enchants me. I mean not just physical beauty but a wider concept of beauty. There is beauty in poetry and in great musical or singing performances. There is beauty everywhere if you can just see it.