I am under no illusion that I will ever be the greatest opera composer in the world, with Wagner and Verdi and Strauss before me. I think my work could fit very nicely into musicals, though.

I think the minute you mention death, people run for the hills - unless it's heavy metal. People do not like death.

There's no life without humour. It can make the wonderful moments of life truly glorious, and it can make tragic moments bearable.

I believe a lot of our lives are spent asleep, and what I've been trying to do is hold on to those moments when a little spark cuts through the fog and nudges you.

Life is a game and true love is a trophy.

I've developed into quite a swan. I'm one of those people that will probably look better and better as I get older - until I drop dead of beauty.

I'm your knight in shining armor. I'm here to save you from Linkin Park.

Cigarettes and chocolate milk These are just a couple of my cravings Everything it seems I like's a little bit stronger A little bit thicker A little bit harmful for me.

I am always writing; if you want to survive in this business, you need to keep working, keep creating and never stop the output.

Being uncool is being pretty much the coolest you can be.

I like to make the mundane fabulous whenever I can.

What separates us from the animals, what separates us from the chaos, is our ability to mourn people we’ve never met.

The hands of the clock are ever in the hands of God. It is arrogant to plan without planning for God.

None of us can be free of conflict and woe. Even the greatest men have had to accept disappointments as their daily bread.

Different men seek after happiness in different ways and by different means and so make for themselves different modes of life.

Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.

Profound things are simple. If it is not simple, it cannot be true. But simple things are difficult.

Instead of setting goals, seek defining moments. Those are the real tests, because you have to be willing to fail in a pressure situation in front of other people.

The way you get a better world is, you don't put up with substandard anything.

You have mosquitoes. I have the Press.

That you may please others you must be forgetful of yourself.