"I met at the performance of my "Battle." Most of the composers then in Vienna were kind enough to undertake something or other in my orchestra, and the young man played the big drum. Ha! ha! ha! . I had reason not to be very well satisfied with him. He was always behindhand, and I had to give it him roundly. He must have felt mortified by my observations; but there is no reliance to be placed in him; he has not the courage to raise his arm at the proper moment."

"I’m on the stage alone for 90 minutes. If I start mailing it in, I’m going to get lost. Part of the craft of acting is being properly prepared. I have too much respect for Lincoln to approach it any o…"

"This exchange – mainly in the form of letters – was not only about painting and art, but covered everything to do with one's existence and the philosophical or religious colouring, in a word: for the …"

"I was thinking, earlier, how there's this stigma attached to "writing for money" and how odd that is, as though writing is akin to sex and writing for money is akin to prostitution in the minds of so …"

"We have to be aware of the chaos, but we should not only focus on that. It's easy to dwell on the negative. But there is so much that's beautiful that's all around us and there's so much that's happen…"