Don’t be vain because you happen to have talent. You are not responsible for that; it was not of your doing. What you do with your talent is what matters.

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.

Every wrong seems possible today, and is accepted. I don't accept it.

The most perfect technique is that which is not noticed at all.

To retire is the beginning of death.

You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.

The simplest things in music are the ones that count. The simplest thing are, of course, also the most difficult to achieve and take years of work.