The only guy who's honest is the guy who sings in the shower. Everyone else is a prostitute.
The best critics leave the reader curious to pursue something further, but still to let the reader have his or her own honest, unique opinion.
I wrote much more quickly when I was younger. Over the years I've required more time in order for the pieces to arrive in a place I am happy with. The process cannot be rushed. I have to live with a piece for quite a while to feel it ultimately is where it needs to be - though anything resembling complete satisfaction remains elusive.
I write because the act of writing itself is what drives me. It's a private communication within myself - nothing more or less. This doesn't mean I do not want to share with people.
There are times I'm completely uncomfortable with my works being performed publicly, and I haven't attended certain concerts because the prospect is akin to having a diary read on stage. But there are also situations - whether with an audience of one, or many - where the concert experience can be deeply special, and those experiences are often unpredictable, and wonderful when they occur.
I don't think performance out of duty yields very much. Coercion is never the way to go.
If people want insights, if they want to swim in the currents of their own time and share the experiences of their time, then it makes sense to engage with the artists of one's own time.
Books have been to me what gold is to the miser, what new fields are to the explorer.
To my father, business was the highest calling, but to my mother, medicine was the top profession.
Realizing your potential as a leader is your responsibility.
For the first time I was learning how much easier it was to leave than to stay behind and love.