Hurry? I have no time to hurry.

The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution.

I never understood the need for a "live" audience. My music, because of its extreme quietude, would be happiest with a dead one.

I was born out of due time in the sense that by temperament and talent I should have been more suited for the life of a small Bach, living in anonymity and composing regularly for an established service and for God.

I live neither in the past nor in the future. I am in the present. I cannot know what tomorrow will bring forth. I can know only what the truth is for me today. That is what I am called upon to serve, and I serve it in all lucidity.

Music must be listened to; it is not enough to hear it. A duck hears also.

The more controlled, limited and tormented art is, the freer it is.