Before I compose a piece, I walk around it several times, accompanied by myself.

The musician is perhaps the most modest of animals, but he is also the proudest. It is he who invented the sublime art of ruining poetry.

Why attack God? He may be as miserable as we are

I liked the bit about quarter to eleven. (on Debussy's "Dawn to Noon on the Sea")

When I was young, I was told: 'You'll see, when you're fifty. I am fifty and I haven't seen a thing.

She was rescued by her neighbors and hospitalized. Friends accompanied her during surgery and contributed blood. Her recovery took several months. She didn't let bitterness hold her back. She resumed teaching and studying international affairs.