Nobility of spirit has more to do with simplicity than ostentation, wisdom rather than wealth, commitment rather than ambition.

A conductor should guide rather than command.

Music does not know the difference between people; it only speaks to their hearts. It is the only form of communication that can bring this terrible world together.

The conductor's stand is not a continent of power, but rather an island of solitude.

I'm not shy in the spotlight. I might seem austere and even arrogant, but far from it, I'm actually shy.

You have to be able to enthral and persuade at the same time.

You have to channel the interpretation and performance into 100 people. And with the audience, the critics.

Soccer and sports are entertainment ... You can't call Beethoven's 9th Symphony or a work of Shakespeare 'entertainment.' It's not 'entertainment.' It's culture.

It is extraordinary to have time to again study Le nozze di Figaro and discover new things.

I am exhausted by traditional memoir. I am exhausted by the architecture of the conventional novel.

I like girls that have a nice smile and nice eyes. I want to date a girl who understands my busy schedule and that I have to be on tour a lot. And she has to make me laugh!

So many people arrange furniture in order to see what's going on outside. But why? The view isn't going anywhere.

I thought I could not breathe in that fine air That pure severity of perfect light I yearned for warmth and colour which I found In Lancelot.

Every generation reinvents the wheel - and in the process it often adds to rather than subtracts from a woman's burdens.

The doubt of future foes exiles my present joy.

In 2003, Helmut Schmidt said: Predatory capitalism exists, we have to civilize it and we can do that via Europe. He was right. We haven't tried hard enough.

Avoid arguments, but whenever a negative attitude is expressed, counter with a positive and optimistic opinion.

I was into jazz even when I was a kid. My parents would play Ella Fitzgerald, George Shearing, and Dixieland music. I loved The Monkees, The Beatles, The Eagles, and America.

I am not a political figure. The fact is I am a humanitarian figure and always will be.