You raved and you bitched when you came home about the stupidity of audiences. The goddam 'unskilled laughter' coming from the fifth row. And that's right, that's right - God knows it's depressing. I'm not saying it isn't. But that's none of your business, really. That's none of your business, Franny. An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's.

'You can say the Jesus Prayer from now till doomsday, but if you don't realize that the only thing that counts in the religious life is detachment, I don't see…

Seymour'd told me to shine my shoes just as I was going out the door with Waker. I was furious. The studio audience were all morons, the announcer was a moron,…

Even if you went out and searched the whole world for a master - some guru, some holy man - to tell you how to say your Jesus Prayer properly, what good would …

When working on my choreography I am not always receptive to outside suggestions or opinions. I believe that if you have something in mind in the way of a crea…

One becomes a critic when one cannot be an artist, just as a man becomes a stool pigeon when he cannot be a soldier.

A creative artist works on his next composition because he is not satisfied with his previous one. When he loses a critical attitude toward his own work, he ce…