I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him.
When you have a family, or even when you're just seeing a girl, it's difficult to be skint.
As you get older you feel you need to pay more attention to what is around you and relish it. I'm greedy for beauty.
If you ever see me in a social setting wearing any sort of sportswear, then you know I'm in crisis.
One of my great regrets, and I don't have many, is that I spent too long putting people's status and reputation ahead of their more important qualities. I learned far too late in life that a long list of letters after someone's name is no guarantee of compassion, kindness, humour, all the far more relevant stuff.
I would like to change everything, but obviously not everything. I've been incredibly fortunate. I guess everybody would do this, but I'd go back to my younger self and say, "Lighten up. Take it easy. Relax. Don't be so anxious about everything. Try to be in the day. Try to not have today stolen from you by anxiety about yesterday or tomorrow. "
I'm not a financial expert. The Robin Hood tax seems to me a very simple and beautiful idea. I don't see the problem.
I love playing and I love singing, and the writing. There's kind of a symbiotic relationship between the writing and the playing.
There's nothing like a headless corpse to bring a touch of excitement into one's life.
My father ran the gamut: a favorite of his was Josef Hofmann, but there was also Friedman, Rachmaninoff, Godowsky, Lhevinne, Moiseiwitsch, Paderewski, etc.
Their friendship was only one aspect of their lives but it seemed to give meaning to all the others.