We are so used to dissembling with others that in time we come to deceive and dissemble with ourselves.

Seek always to do some good somewhere. Every man has to seek in his own way to realize his true worth. You must give some time to your fellow man. For remember you don't live in a world all your own. Your brothers are here too.

It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.

Both my grandmothers had upright pianos and I just knew how to play since I was a child. Nobody taught me. I sounded like a grown-up and then I learned how to read music. I played so well by ear I could fool the teacher to believe I could play the notes. She'd make the mistake of playing the song once and I could play it.

I started the class late. The teacher said I would have to learn as much in half a year that the others learned in a year. I did it.

My teacher my great cello teacher Leonard Rose was such a great cellist and nurturing man very patient. But I grew up not only admiring him but obviously Casals Rostrotovich Jacqueline du Pre and many others including many of my peers and contemporaries.

It's hard for me to think of others because I'm not particularly in sympathy with the music of this century.

To desire and expect nothing for oneself and to have profound sympathy for others is genuine holiness.

Success is very ephemeral. You depend entirely on the desire of others which makes it difficult to relax.

With success came an ever-growing burden of responsibility. I lived with a near-constant low-level anxiety that I would make a mistake that would not only threaten my career but also my brothers' - not to mention the livelihoods of many people who work with us or for us.