At his best, things do not happen to the artist; he happens to them.

A writer wants what he has to say to be heard again and again. He wants it to be heard after he is dead.

Merely to survive is to keep the hope greatness, accuracy, and the grace alive.

The end of life evokes the errors of it, and a fellow wishes he had known better.

I seek a form that my style cannot discover, a bud of thought that wants to be a rose.

Music is for me like a beautiful mosaic which God has put together. He takes all the pieces in his hand, throws them into the world, and we have to recreate th…

'One has a nose. The nose scents and it chooses. An artist is simply a kind of pig snouting truffles.'