There is a world of difference between a Mahler eighth note and a normal eighth note.

I am thrice homeless, as a native of Bohemia in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew throughout the world. Everywhere an intruder, never welcomed.

I don't let myself get carried away by my own ideas; I abandon 19 out of 20 of them every day.

It is a funny thing, but when I am making music, all the answers I seek for in life seem to be there, in the music. Or rather, I should say, when I am making music, there are no questions and no need for answers.

It is strange how one feels drawn forward without knowing at first where one is going.

The real art of conducting consists in transitions.

Tradition is laziness.