In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness... I see what people call God in all these things.

Yes, it is true. I am a miracle. I am a miracle like a tree is a miracle, like a flower is a miracle. Now, if I am a miracle, can I do a bad thing? I can't, because I am a miracle, I am a miracle. . . .

Let us not forget that the greatest composers were also the greatest thieves. They stole from everyone and everywhere.

To retire is the beginning of death.

Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.

I have always regarded manual labour as creative and looked with respect-and, yes, wonder-at people who work with their hands. It seems to me that their creativity is no less than that of a violinist or painter.

When we play an unaccompanied Bach suite we may compare ourselves to an actor in Shakespeare's day, creating scenery which did not exist at all, through the power of declamation and suggestion. So in Bach. There is but one voice -- and many voices have to be suggested.