“She came from an old family, some of whom lived in upper New York State and some of whom had come over from Scotland.”

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

Well, my grandfather was a minister and sort of Protestant, and this was rather depressing to me.

My purpose is to create music not for snobs, but for all people, music which is beautiful and healing.

The greater the emotional intensity, the greater the simplicity.

I was born in Somerville, but I don’t remember very much about it because we moved from there to Arlington when I was five years old, and it was in Arlington that I spent most of my childhood.

I’ve always regarded nature as the clothing of God.

The composer…joins Heaven and Earth with threads of sounds.

There is nothing like practice.

The planets have the sun, the earth, the moon.

I did all kinds of things in order to earn a living.

I was much more interested in the orchestra than the piano.

My mother’s background was Scottish.

This is not to say that the Scots are not fine people, but they were all sort of.

But I did become fairly proficient as a pianist and my teachers felt I had talent and wanted me to become a good concert pianist and earn my living that way.

I think that of my 21 symphonies, each has its own place.

To attempt what old Chinese painters called ‘spirit resonance’ in melody and sound.

No other exercises for the upper body are included in the program, and there are no core exercises done for the upper back. Quite often, it’s a combination all these factors.

It’s funny how the hippies and the punks tried to get rid of the conservatives, but they always seem to get the upper hand in the end.

But Buddy was an upper. He was happy. He loved music, and he was really happy. I don’t know…

We deny your internationalism, because it is a luxury which only the upper classes can afford.

First one, then the other, getting the upper hand, and too seldom fusing till the result has the mellowness of full achievement.

I recognize that I am made up of several persons and that the person that at the moment has the upper hand will inevitably give place to another. But which is the real one? All of them or none?

I’m basically an Upper West Side Jewish writer.

It’s the first company to build the mental position that has the upper hand, not the first company to make the product.