Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the god dam rules.

You are born an artist or you are not. And you stay an artist, dear, even if your voice is less of a fireworks. The artist is always there.

Good teachers make the best of a pupil's means; great teachers foresee a pupil's ends.

An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house.

I prepare myself for rehearsals like I would for marriage.

That is the difference between good teachers and great teachers: good teachers make the best of a pupil's means; great teachers foresee a pupil's ends.