I am an old man, but in many senses a very young man. And this is what I want you to be, young, young all your life.

To retire is to begin to die

The cello is like a beautiful woman who has not grown older, but younger with time, more slender, more supple, more graceful.

Beauty is all about us, but how may are blind! They look at the wonder of this earth and seem to see nothing. People move hectically but give little thought to where they are going. They seek excitement ... as if they were lost and desperate.

Let us not forget that the greatest composers where also the greatest thieves. They stole from everyone and everywhere.

Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it.