I don't go to concerts much. I've heard everything. When I do go to movies, I walk out half the time. As for literature, I've read everything.

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

Sooner or later you've heard all your best friends have to say. Then comes the tolerance of real love.

If asked to list my ten favorite American fiction writers, Gail Godwin would be among them. In this, her latest . . . she evokes in a short book the long married life of two artists. Evenings at Five is a strong tale of love-after-death.

If you read reviews of concerts, the word 'creative' comes up all the time. However, performers playing music usually aren't creative. Critics might say they are, but they're just playing another persons work. They didn't create it.

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

Compose first, worry later.