"My music had roots which I'd dug up from my own childhood, musical roots buried in the darkest soil"

"Music is my religion"

"A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost"

"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"

"A happy childhood has spoiled many a promising life"

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

"Childhood is a disease - a sickness that you grow out of"

"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"

"Music is the shorthand of emotion"

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older"

"A nation creates music - the composer only arranges it"