Music is essentially built upon primitive memory structures.

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.

I want to give my compliments to Australia. Ever since your government paid a few million dollars for a Jackson Pollack painting, I figure that it must be a marvellous country

Since music has never had a Rembrandt, we have remained nothing more than musicians.

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

Music is essentially built upon primitive memory structures.