Thomas Jefferson

Delay is preferable to error.

Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government.

Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail.

Composers, like authors, have a lot in common. Our main goal is to connect with the listener emotionally.

I think that, in almost all human beings, there is buried a profound tribal instinct that makes us very susceptible to being aroused to patriotic fervour.

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.