Gustav Mahler

All that is not perfect down to the smallest detail is doomed to perish.

The real art of conducting consists in transitions.

Don't bother looking at the view - I have already composed it.

I am a big one for subtlety and empathy. My dad was softly spoken and didn't carry his honours and accomplishments for everyone to see.

Well, I actually wrote her a letter a couple of days ago congratulating her. The tone I tried to convey in the letter is, look, you are a part of a great American historical process.

If I had written something, and I had written myself into a corner, I didn't abandon it. Because I remembered: There's always more.