The European boys have small ideas but they sure know how to dress 'em up.

The extraordinary thing about my mother, she's so modest about me.

Not many composers have ideas. Far more of them know how to use strange instruments which do not require ideas.

I frequently hear music in the heart of noise.

Summertime And the living is easy Fish are jumpin' And the cotton is high Oh, your daddy's rich And your mama's good lookin' So hush little baby now don't you cry One of these mornin's You're gonna rise up singin' Then you'll spread your wings And take to the sky But til that mornin' Ain't nothin' can harm you With your daddy And your mammy standin' by.

It sounds simple, of course, but personally I can think of no more mentally arduous task than making music.

Originality is the only thing that counts. But the originator uses material and ideas that occur round him and pass through him. And out of his experience comes the original creation.