Do we have anything in music that really wipes everything out? That just cleans everything away?

If you think you might have secret information listening to me, you're lost.

I never understood what rules I was supposed to learn, and what rules I was supposed to break

I have a very dear friend, a great painter, called me up very upset, the work wasn’t going well… He asked me to come to his studio -- which I did -- I looked around at the work, dozens of sketches, drawings, large pictures, and I was very close to his work, intensely involved with his work, and he asked me, ‘What’s wrong?’ And I said, ‘Simple – it’s a loss of nerve.

For years I said if I could only find a comfortable chair I would rival Mozart.

No one has the Houdini school of composition.

The composer makes plans, music laughs.