The sound and just the fact that it was different from the piano, yet it still had some familiarity [made my fascinated with accordion].

Listen to everything all the time and remind yourself when you are not listening.

Listening is not the same as hearing and hearing is not the same as listening

I am also interested in music expanding consciousness. By expanding consciousness, I mean that old patterns can be replaced with new ones.

Walk so silently that the bottoms of your feet become ears

Listening is selecting and interpreting and acting and making decisions.

When I am composing, the sounds are leading me to the way I want them to organize.

Working in theoretical systems can take away the juice. It can also be very beautiful, but when you're trying to satisfy a theoretical principle rather than a sonic reality, then it can become dry.

Deep listening is experiencing heightened awareness or expanded awareness of sound and of silence, of quiet, and of sounding - making sounds.

We think about sitting in a space and hearing some music by having our ears pointed forward towards the musicians sitting opposite us. I'm really not following that paradigm at all.

Everybody improvises their way through every day. And so I do that with music.

The master creators are masters of love.

True or not, it's important to have stories ― they are what give us the right to walk the earth and have a name.

In the West, they will either accept or reject. In the East, they will always accept also provide guidance and patience.

Canada used to be...one of our most...most loyal friends, and vice versa. I mean, Canada sent troops to Vietnam. Was Vietnam less containable and more of a threat than Saddam Hussein?

The vital accessories to my work are my reference books, such as the complete Shakespeare and a prayer book, and a large refuse bin.

The real question is whether all your pondering and analyses will convince you that life is worth living. That's what it all comes down to.

Your work may be great and not make its way into the big picture... like Van Gogh... so who's to say what's good and bad?

You have to learn not only from your failures. You must also learn from your successes.

'He's got a can up there,' Richard said.

Gaze steadfastly at things which, though far away, are yet present to the mind.