On stage, I am in the dark.

When music fails to agree to the ear, to soothe the ear and the heart and the senses, then it has missed the point.

I belong to the givers. I want to give a little happiness even if I haven’t had much for myself. Music has enriched my life and, hopefully - through me, a little - the public’s. If anyone left an opera house feeling more happy and at peace, I achieved my purpose.

I don't need the money, dear. I work for art.

What is there in life if you do not work? There is only sensation, and there are only a few sensations— you cannot live on them. You can only live on work, by work, through work. How can you live with self-respect if you do not do things as well as lies in you?

I want to be a mature artist with a different kind of thinking.

First I lost weight, then I lost my voice, and now I've lost Onassis.