The first thing to do in life is to do with purpose what one purposes to do.

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.

I don't have hobbies. I have passions.

To live is not enough; we must take part.

Music must serve a purpose; it must be a part of something larger than itself, a part of humanity.

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.

Thank God, I'll never have to play the cello again.