"I was attacked for being a pasticheur, chided for composing “simple” music, blamed for deserting “modernism,” accused of renouncing my “true Russian heritage.” People who had never heard of, or cared …"

"I had another dream the other day about music critics. They were small and rodent-like with padlocked ears, as if they had stepped out of a painting by Goya."

"The more an artist tries to be original, the more he is likely to succeed."

"Music is a chronometer by means of which the soul measures time."

"I am not afraid of anything, except boredom."