The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline but rather the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.

Isolation is the indispensable component of human happiness.

One does not play the piano with one's fingers, one plays the piano with one's mind.

There is a craft and a power in listening.

u201Che G-minor Symphony consists of eight remarkable measures surrounded by a half-hour of banality.

Whenever one honestly defies a tradition, one becomes, in reality, the more responsible to it.

The purpose of art is the lifelong construction of a state of wonder.

I detest audiences - not in their individual components, but en masse I detest audiences. I think they're a force of evil. It seems to me rule of mob law.

If an artist wants to use his mind for creative work, cutting oneself off from society is a necessary thing

My moods are inversely related to the clarity of the sky.

The justification of art is the internal combustion it ignites in the hearts of men and not its shallow, externalized, public manifestations.

I'm a big believer in creating family traditions. Every Tuesday morning, I make a proper eggs breakfast, and we all sit down and eat.

It is funny to me that because I can run, because I'm athletic, people tend to see that as my only asset.

It's easier in an urban world to cast the blame outward. So I've learned a lot about my own process in that way.

The fact that someone didn't experience the war itself doesn't mean that he doesn't perceive its consequences.

I am very little of a traveler.

I do not know anything about luck, apart from that the more I practice, the luckier I get.

A reputation as a hard worker is a good reputation to have.

In general, we’re least aware of what our minds do best.

My expectations are incredibly high.

Difficulty, my brethren, is the nurse of greatness - a harsh nurse, who roughly rocks her foster children into strength and athletic proportion.