When I discovered that I had been made custodian of this gift, in my earliest childhood, I pledged myself to God to be worthy of it, but I have received uncovenanted mercies all my life. The custodian has too often kept faith on his all-too-worldly terms.

All music is nothing more than a succession of impulses that converge towards a definite point of repose.

A composer is not only an architect but also an inventor, and he should not build houses in which he cannot live.

Composition is frozen improvisation.

Money may kindle, but it cannot by itself, and for very long, burn.

Good composers don't borrow, they steal

To listen is an effort, and just to hear is no merit. A duck hears also.