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.

Rock n' roll is poison put to sound.

I don't have hobbies. I have passions.

The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?

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.

To retire is the beginning of death.

The most important thing in music is what is not in the notes.