Van Cliburn Quotes

If you hold onto the beauty and inspiration and the clarity that is music, you will have an anchor, you will not be too far swayed by what the world is

I'm not a success, I'm a sensation.

I have never known anyone from Texas, no matter how far they go or what they do, who isn't proud of being from Texas.

An artist can only be evaluated after he's dead. At the 11th hour he might do something that will eclipse everything else.

The Steinway piano - with its beauty and power - is the perfect medium for expressing the performer's art, drama and poetry.

But classical music is not entertainment, and I feel viciously strong about that. Classical music is forever. Entertainment is something that is here today, and may be gone tomorrow.

Music is like painting in sound. You take it into your inner heart and never lose it. It's eternally mysterious.

The brick of my life is music, but the mortar is faith.

Everything I chose, I had already played in concert. For the competition, I wanted to pick pieces I know that people like.