You think you know everything about a person, but the truth often comes as a surprise.

Have I ever written anything that has really changed something? What I believe is that you can't change anything without using art. I believe that the drops wear away the stone. I try to be part of that army.

Dreams can be of value even if you don’t have an opportunity to turn them into reality.

I am not afraid of dying. I have lived longer than most people in the world. What scares me is to have a body that works but a brain that is waving goodbye. If that happens, I hope I die quickly.

We don't have time to argue. Nobody has time.

It was a clear, starry night, dead calm. Whenever I see a sky like that, I wish I could write music

Although I never marched through the streets shouting for Mao, I do believe that the liberation of China at the end of the 1940s was a wonderful thing and to provide its people with a billion pairs of shoes and trousers was a fantastic achievement.