A lot of people like to think that polio was a inspiration in what I do. I think that music has to do with what kind of passion do you have.

One of the most important elements in teaching, conducting, and performing, all three, is listening.

Sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.

Never miss an opportunity to teach; when you teach others, you teach yourself.

One must always practice slowly. If you learn something slowly, you forget it slowly.

Another thing that I don't like to do is show too much how it goes. I do it once in a blue moon. Sometimes there are lessons when I don't pick up a violin at all.

The most important thing to do is really listen.

Ask many of us who are disabled what we would like in life and you would be surprised how few would say, 'Not to be disabled.' We accept our limitations.

I always consider myself lucky that I can actually cry listening to some music.

Every musical phrase has a purpose. It's like talking. If you talk with a particular purpose, people listen to you, but if you just recite, it's not as meaningful.

When you play a concerto with a small orchestra, you don't feel it is as important as Carnegie Hall. You try to work out all the little problems. Once that's all done, trust comes in.

There is a magical dream that fills the gap between birth and death

The strongest man in the world is he who stands alone.

The sparrows jumped before they knew how to fly, and they learned to fly only because they had jumped

If we are poor learners, our teaching will be ineffective.

Of course, the character of my garden is also determined by things beyond any human decision, mine or anyone else's.

We must relearn to be alone.

The chief lesson I have learned in a long life is that the only way you can make a man trustworthy is to trust him; and the surest way to make him untrustworthy is to distrust him.

In the modern world there's no such thing as formality. A dinner jacket used to mean a tuxedo, you know?

I think women do work differently; it's important to have both men and women. They offer different things.

It's human nature to want to be with other people.