A conductor should guide rather than command.

The conductor's stand is not a continent of power, but rather an island of solitude.

I have closed that page of my life without rancor. I do not disown any of the work done.

Nobility of spirit has more to do with simplicity than ostentation, wisdom rather than wealth, commitment rather than ambition.

I don't want to bother them and ruin the party they are preparing so carefully at La Scala.

It is extraordinary to have time to again study Le nozze di Figaro and discover new things.

You have to be able to enthral and persuade at the same time.

I'm not shy in the spotlight. I might seem austere and even arrogant, but far from it, I'm actually shy.

You have to channel the interpretation and performance into 100 people. And with the audience, the critics.

A conductor should guide rather than command.

The moment you think you have charisma you are finished.

But all lost things are in the angels' keeping, Love; No past is dead for us, but only sleeping, Love; The years of Heaven with all earth's little pain Make Good Together there we can begin again, In babyhood.

I think it's too bad that everybody's decided to turn on drugs, I don't think drugs are the problem. Crime is the problem. Cops are the problem. Money's the problem. But drugs are just drugs.

No matter how hard it seems just keep going dont quit because we only fail when we give up.

Abraham Lincoln never denigrated, never scapegoated, never finger-pointed. And he had reason to.

I'm not apologetic with respect to the policies of the Bush administration. I think we basically got it right.

I seem to be incapable of playing that guy that always does the right thing, who always responds well in any circumstance.

I've interviewed multiple people who know bin Laden... who tend to have a universal picture of what he's like, which is: modest, retiring, unassuming, kind of thoughtful - lots of things that don't fit with a mass murderer, which he is as well.

I wouldn't recommend being a musician to anyone. It's not glamorous. It's a lot of being dirty, not eating, playing for five people and one of them is the bartender.

As a dad, he thinks that his philosophy is morally correct. He has no conscience whatsoever about letting his kids put a penny in a light socket to find out electricity is not so good for you, and if you want to learn how to swim, you have to be thrown into the deep end.

I'm a therapist and that fascinates people because they think I carry secrets.

The really frightening thing about middle age is that you know youll grow out of it.

Once you have a child, you change so much along the way, you don't even recognize yourself by the time they're ready to move out!

I know he played on the last record but I don't wake up in the middle of the night thinking of Eric Clapton.

If one can judge from the letters that I receive, it would seem that there are many thousands of children who would like me to speak or to read to them.

I can find my way from 500 A.D. through to 1066 pretty well as an amateur historian.

The first generation of Russian terrorists came out of the '60s counterculture - the 1860s in Russia bearing a striking similarity to the 1960s in the United States, with Russian students growing their hair, following gurus who extolled the 'new man,' and starting communes.

I've written a lot of really good books. Now we'll see if I can write any more good books. I mean there's a chance I won't, but I'm going to try.

The wind is blowing. Don't bend if you want to please him.

When you give a lot of confidence in people and you don't get it back, you are a bit disappointed, but it's life.

There's established gaming IP that's coming from console to mobile, which is interesting. Everything is converging a little bit toward mobile devices in the living room. On the casual side, the graphics and animation and game design and all of those variables are improving.

Everybody knew me as a gay man, and in my life in London, I never tried to hide.

Whether your pregnancy was meticulously planned medically coaxed or happened by surprise one thing is certain your life will never be the same.

I get letters constantly from all over the world, telephone calls from America, Brazil, Australia, all over, especially on my birthday. A family? I have a huge international family. That's all I need.

When I read the 'Ugly Betty' pilot, I thought, 'Oh, this part's funny.' I said to my husband, 'I'm going to get it!' But based on what? All my exquisite comedic work in a Nike commercial?