"I was a student at Harvard, and that's where I learned about so-called avant-garde music. Jackson Pollock, abstract expressionism and painting were well known at this time"

"Weak minds sink under prosperity as well as adversity; but strong and deep ones have two high tides"

"Music is my religion"

"Never trust a man who speaks well of everybody"

"A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body"

"Every painting is a voyage into a sacred harbour"

"The League is very well when sparrows shout, but no good at all when eagles fall out"

"If you want to eat well in England, eat three breakfasts"

"Music is the shorthand of emotion"

"My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake"

"One has children in the expectation of dying before them. In fact, you want to make damn sure you die before them, just as you plant a tree or build a house knowing, hoping that it will outlive you. That's how the human species has done as well as it has"