What we hear is the quality of our listening.

Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence.

Quiet is the absence of sound. Silence is the presence of silence.

If the audience doesn't hear what is going on, is it going on?

Usually people think that it is the musicians who create the music, but in fact it is music who creates the musicians.

What has changed in 40 years? It’s very simple: 40 years ago there was a market economy. Today there is a market society – today everything, including ethics, has a price.

A mistake is always forgivable, rarely excusable and always unacceptable.

Understanding is simple. Knowing is complicated.

I'm not really interested in music. Music is just a means of creating a magical state.

Music so wishes to be heard that it sometimes calls on unlikely characters to give it voice.

We know others to the extent that we know ourselves.

I am the common man. I'm polite, I love my family and I play by the rules. And sometimes I get pushed around. That's my lifestyle, and that's what I try to bring to characters.

Among the American contemporaries I read with most enjoyment are several North Carolinians. I think the best poetry being written these days is being written by Southerners.

As the rolling stone gathers no moss, so the roving heart gathers no affections.

We change our opinions of ourselves so often. What the outside world thinks is only a small part of our image.

You know, I think I'm a stronger person for realizing that you can't make everybody love you.

In your thoughts, you need to be selective. Thoughts are powerful vehicles of attention. Only think positive thoughts about yourself and your endeavors, and think well of the endeavors of others.

Swift as a deer. Quiet as a shadow. Fear cuts deeper than swords. Quick as a snake. Calm as still water.

I've had the fame and the joy of getting laughter - those are gifts.

I don't want to exhibit something to someone anymore. I want to do the reverse: I want to exhibit someone to something.

The ballot box is a most inadequate mechanism of change.