Don't be too dismissive of children. While it's true that few children are artists, all artists are children.

Intelligence is silence, truth is being invisible. But what a racket I make in declaring this.

The beautiful are shyer than the ugly, for they move in a world that does not ask for beauty.

If a composer could state in words what being a composer means, he would no longer need to be a composer.

The Great don't innovate, they fertilize seeds planted by lackeys, they leave to others the inhaling of the flowers whose roots they've manured. A deceptive memory may be the key to their originality.

Bel canto is to opera what pole-vaulting is to ballet.

Anyone can be gay - it's no accomplishment - but only I can be me.