Society wants to categorize everything, but to me it's all African-American music.
When you play Bach like Chopin, and Chopin like Bach, something good happens.
The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border? There is a brotherhood among all men. This must be recognized if life is to remain. We must learn the love of man.
There is no substitute for work; what seems ease of performance comes from the greatest labor.
The art of interpretation is not to play what is written.
I see in the melody of Nature, God. It is a wonderful work of art. The spirit of the art is wonderful. And I feel that I am myself because I have never taken music lightly. Music is the manifestation of God, like everything else.
For me, Bach is like Shakespeare. He has known all and felt all. He is everything.
Too many people in the modern world view poetry as a luxury, not a necessity like petrol. But to me it's the oil of life.
I don't think any of my books tell the reader anything new. But they do remind, in a time that is strident and screeching about the limitations of this world and all the trouble we can get ourselves into.
It's so much easier to sit home and not exercise and criticize other people. What I love is inspiring people. People come up to me and say, 'I want to have two kids and wear a bathing suit and not feel terrible about myself. I see how hard you work and it makes me feel like I can do that too. '
I cannot, and will not, vote for Senator John McCain, as a matter of conscience.