When one puts up a building one makes an elaborate scaffold to get everything into its proper place. But when one takes the scaffold down, the building must stand by itself with no trace of the means by which it was erected. That is how a musician should work.

I was my own teacher and pupil, in a comradeship so firm and persevering that the most trying incidents of my life served only to strengthen the union.

Lean your body forward slightly to support the guitar against your chest, for the poetry of the music should resound in your heart.

It is always about discovering what, hidden, does not lie on the paper.

When I began, the guitar was en-closed in a vicious circle. There were no composers writing for the guitar, be-cause there were no virtuoso guitarists.

I've had only three wives and three guitars in my life, though I've flirted with others.

My prayer to the Lord every day, is this-I have been a great sinner. I do not deserve Heaven. Let me stay here.