Jazz will endure just as long people hear it through their feet instead of their brains.

The red and white and starry blue Is freedom's shield and hope.

I am happy now, to recall that I was not only his son but his companion, and whenever there was a hunting expedition or any other pleasure, I was always with him.

Dance as though no one is watching. Love as though you've never been hurt. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on earth.

Anybody can write music of a sort. But touching the public heart is quite another thing.

A band is only as good as its euphonium section.

I have always believed that 98% of a student's progress is due to his own efforts, and 2% to his teacher.

From childhood I was passionately fond of music and wanted to be a musician. I have no recollection of any real desire ever to be anything else.

Remember always that the composer's pen is still mightier than the bow of the violinist; in you lie all the possibilities of the creation of beauty.

There is one thing that freezes a musician more than the deadliest physical cold, and that is the spiritual chill of an unresponsive audience!

Any composer who is gloriously conscious that he is a composer must believe that he receives his inspiration from a source higher than himself.

To develop stronger focus, develop a greater reason or meaning for your goal.

Digging through my roots to understand the way my branches grew.

How anyone cannot see that Nature is God is amazing to me: that they'd rather worship something that can only exist, really, in their own minds.

Life is always surprising to me. When you think it's going to get dull, it never really does.

Learn to write well, or not to write at all.

The thing that I'm most proud of in my life is that if a stranger came up to me and said, 'I can't stop drinking. I can't stop drinking. Can you help me?' I can say, 'Yes, I can help you.'

Scatter the clouds that hide The face of heaven, and show Where sweet peace doth abide, Where Truth and Beauty grow.

Faith is knowing who God is and acting accordingly... God fights when we move.

The problem is not a lack of understanding of what we are saying and doing; the problem is difference of opinion about what to do.