We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

The music industry can make you feel like a prostitute.

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Music with dinner is an insult, both to the cook and the violinist.

Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends.

Critics are the men who have failed in literature and art.

We're not trying to change the world; just music.

The spoken form is in fact a very restrained representation of what is possible in the musical language.

A great poet is the most precious jewel of a nation.

I'm very happy to hear that my work inspires writers and painters. It's the most beautiful compliment, the greatest reward. Art should always be an exchange.

Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.

A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.

What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.

Rock and roll music, if you like it, if you feel it, you can't help but move to it. That's what happens to me. I can't help it.

Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.

The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.

Artistic temperament is a disease that afflicts amateurs.

Real popular culture is folk art - coalminers' songs and so forth.

Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.

I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland.