The Lourie Center eases the burden of children and their families through early intervention and diagnoses and treatment.

In youth we run into difficulties. In old age difficulties run into us.

The press frequently sneers at the hype devoted to a superstar, but the press itself is responsible for all the hype.

There were times in my career ... when I felt like a trapeze artist doing dangerous somersaults without a net underneath. When you execute those somersaults flawlessly, the audience feels the same sense of triumph the performer does.

Opera is music AND drama. I'm prepared to sacrifice the beautiful note for the meaningful sound any time... I can make a pretty tone as well as anyone, but there are times when the drama of a scene demands the opposite of a pretty sound.

I can't be happy every day but I can be cheerful.

I had found a kind of serenity, a new maturity. I didn't feel better or stronger than anyone else but it seemed no longer important whether everyone loved me or not - more important now was for me to love them. Feeling that way turns your whole life around; living becomes the act of giving.