"I think music has gone through a period of something very severe, rather radical, rather the way painting did with cubism"

"Music is my religion"

"Every painting is a voyage into a sacred harbour"

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away"

"I've always been into melodies. That's what I love about music – a good melody that gives you goosebumps"

"Painting is an infinitely minute part of my personality"

"It is not hard to understand modern art. If it hangs on a wall it's a painting, and if you can walk around it it's a sculpture"

"We worked very hard to make the lyrics suit the music. I can't, like Elton John, for example, compose by lyrics. Elton has a great talent for that. Whatever you give him, including your questions, he composes in half an hour and makes a great song out of it"

"You don't need a framework. You need a painting, not a frame"

"Music is the shorthand of emotion"

"I think of my peace paintings as one long poem, with each painting being a single stanza"