We only begin to live life when we learn to accept it on its own terms.

Sometimes when I sit down to practice and there is no one else in the room, I have to stifle an impulse to ring for the elevator man and offer him money to come in and hear me.

People are always setting conditions for happiness... I love life without condition.

To be alive, to able to see, to walk...it's all a miracle. I have adapted the technique of living life from miracle to miracle.

Never sound pompous. You always sound noble, noble. Absolute character of music is nobility. Even popular music can be noble, you see. If it's not noble, then it's not very good... Music is an art of emotion, of nobility, of dignity, of greatness, of love, of tenderness. All that must be brought out in music but never a show of pompousness.

Sometimes I think, not so much am I a pianist, but a vampire. All my life I have lived off the blood of Chopin.

Even when I'm sick and depressed, I love life.