Do we dare be ourselves? That is the question that counts.

The miracle of Bach has not appeared in any other art. To strip human nature until its divine attributes are made clear, to inform ordinary activities with spiritual fervour, to give wings of eternity to that which is most ephemeral; to make divine things human and human things divine; such is Bach, the greatest and purest moment in music of all time.

Beauty is all about us, but how many are blind! They look at the wonder of this earth and seem to see nothing. People move hectically but give little thought to where they are going. They seek excitement ... as if they were lost and desperate.

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

The cello is like a beautiful woman who has not grown older, but younger with time, more slender, more supple, more graceful.

To retire is to begin to die.

Do we dare be ourselves? That is the question that counts.