"Like Nietzsche, I believe that without music, life would be a mistake. Nothing but silence says it better."

“Cooking is for capturing the taste of the food and then enhancing it, as a composer may take a theme and then delight us with his variations.”

“For many of us we are always wanting more - we would be happier if we had such and such. Maybe we should pause for a moment and hear what some people in the third world countries would like to make them happier. 1. Having enough to eat so when you go to sleep at night your stomach doesn't ach. 2. Having shoes on your feet and any kind of clothing to keep the cold out. 3. Having a roof over your head. 4. Having the hope that you'll be lucky enough to get some kind of an education. 5. Believing that the dream of freedom, brotherhood, and peace for all mankind will someday come true.”

“The one you are looking for is the one who is looking.”

“All nations teach their children to be "patriotic", and abuse the other nations for fostering nationalism.”

“Theres something in music that fascinates me - how it communicates emotion so immediately. Thats something I wanted in my paintings.”

Source : "Manhattan rhapsodies" by Andrew Purcell, www.theguardian.com. June 30, 2009.

“A man who has to be punctually at a certain place at five o'clock has the whole afternoon ruined for him already.”

Source : Lin Yutang (1937). “The Importance of Living”

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Source : "The secrets of a peacemaker". Interview with Gary Younge, www.theguardian.com. May 22, 2009.

“The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me.”