Elements and birthdays have been intertwined for me since boyhood, when I learned about atomic numbers.

I often feel that life is about to begin, only to realize it is almost over.

Certain characteristic properties of elements can be foretold from their atomic weights.

If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self - himself - he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it.

We speak not only to tell other people what we think, but to tell ourselves what we think. Speech is a part of thought.

There are, of course, inherent tendencies to repetition in music itself. Our poetry, our ballads, our songs are full of repetition; nursery rhymes and the little chants and songs we use to teach young children have choruses and refrains. We are attracted to repetition, even as adults; we want the stimulus and the reward again and again, and in music we get it. Perhaps, therefore, we should not be surprised, should not complain if the balance sometimes shifts too far and our musical sensitivity becomes a vulnerability.