The framework of a symphony must be so strong that it forces you to follow it, regardless of the environment and circumstances.

Pay no attention to what the critics say; no statue has ever been erected to a critic.

Music begins where the possibilities of language end.

If we understood the world, we would realize that there is a logic of harmony underlying its manifold apparent dissonances.

All the doctors who wanted to forbid me to smoke and to drink are dead.

Music is, for me, like a beautiful mosaic which God has put together. He takes all the pieces in his hand, throws them into the world, and we have to recreate the picture from the pieces.

If you really put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price. Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.

Music is on a higher plane than everything else in this world.

Whereas most other modern composers are engaged in manufacturing cocktails of every hue and description, I offer the public cold spring water.

I often conduct an orchestra in my sleep; my orchestras are so huge that the back desks of the violas vanish into the horizon. And everything is so wonderful.

Millions of years ago, in my previous incarnations, I must have been related to swans... because I can still feel that affinity.

This was not uncommon in government-run operations, where a request that someone do their job often induced a catatonic state that might last anywhere from a couple of minutes to an hour.

Don't you want me to kiss you goodbye, sweetie?""Kiss a cow farm boy

My home drove meinto the wilderness.Few look for me. Few hear me.

He is only rich who owns the day. There is no king rich man fairy or demon who possesses such power as that.

Much of today’s church relies more on a book the early church didn't have, than the Holy Spirit they did.

The day I retire is the day I'll feel old. I'm not there yet.

I once asked God what I could give him. "Your problems," he said. "I've got everything else.

I wouldn't want to spend every waking hour asking people for money. A, I can't do it, it's just not my nature.

Irresolution and mutability are often the faults of men whose views are wide, and whose imagination is vigorous and excursive.

In God becoming human in Jesus Christ, God has established solidarity with the human condition.