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

I am an old man but in many senses a very young man. And this is what I want you to be, young, young all your life.

The answer to helplessness is not so very complicated.

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

The truly important things in life - love, beauty, and one's own uniqueness - are constantly being overlooked.

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.

Real understanding does not come from what we learn in books; it comes from what we learn from love of nature, of music, of man. For only what is learned in that way is truly understood.