The gift of imagination is by no means an exclusive property of the artist; it is a gift we all share; to some degree or other all of us, all of you, are endowed with the powers of fantasy.

If you're a good composer, you steal good steals.

It is hard to think of another composer who so perfectly marries form and passion.

This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.

It would be nice to hear someone accidentally whistle something of mine, somewhere, just once.

I'm no longer quite sure what the question is, but I do know that the answer is Yes.

Life without music is unthinkable. Life without music is academic. That is why my contact with music is a total embrace.