Silence will save me from being wrong (and foolish), but it will also deprive me of the possibility of being right.

I know that the twelve notes in each octave and the variety of rhythm offer me opportunities that all of human genius will never exhaust.

The real composer thinks about his work the whole time; he is not always conscious of this, but he is aware of it later when he suddenly knows what he will do.

I am in the present. I cannot know what tomorrow will bring forth. I can know only what the truth is for me today. That is what I am called upon to serve, and I serve it in all lucidity.

Film music should have the same relationship to the film drama that somebody's piano playing in my living room has on the book I am reading.

The trouble with music appreciation in general is that people are taught to have too much respect for music they should be taught to love it instead.