I don't care what other critics say, I only hope to be played.

I said to my friends that if I was going to starve, I might as well starve where the food is good.

Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.

In Paris, you learn wit, in London you learn to crush your social rivals, and in Florence you learn poise.

I seem to write an opera about every 20 years; if you live long enough you can write four operas. I finished my third in 1970.

Let your mind alone, and see what happens.

The way to write American music is simple. All you have to do is be an American and then write any kind of music you wish.

I listened to the pure crystalline notes of one of Mozart's concertos dropping at my feet like leaves from the trees.

I've never known a musician who regretted being one. Music itself is not going to let you down.

A libretto that should never have been accepted on a subject that should never have been chosen bya man who should never have attempted it.

Reviewing music or reviewing anything is a writing job. It's nice if you are experienced in the field you are writing about, but writing is what you are doing.

Young people these days don't trust anything at all. They want to be free.

There is no such thing as gratitude in international politics.

Going before an audience of people who expect you to be funny is tough. Going before an audience that expect you to be boring, and then being a little funny, is much easier. I prefer easier.

You know it's important to have a Jeep in Los Angeles. That front wheel drive is crucial when it starts to snow on Rodeo Drive.

When people talk to me about tyranny, it makes me laugh and gives me the impression that people suffer from amnesia.

Human life-everybody lives it, but only to a few is it known.

Study your strengths; then decide how hard you want to work

I'd love to do situation comedy - it's the best job in show business.

A poet needs a pen, a painter a brush, and a director an army.

I like having deadlines... a film release date or a concert premiere date. It channels one's energy into doing often remarkable work that oceans of extra time would probably not improve upon.