“The major difference between the ‘best’ and the ‘average’ is that the ‘best’ get as much pleasure from practice as performance.”

When you make a mistake, throw your hands in the air and say “How fascinating!”

My job [is] to awaken possibility in other people. If their eyes are shining, you know you’re doing it. If they’re not shining you get to ask this question: “Who am I being that my children’s eyes are not shining?”

Throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference, accepting that you may not understand how or why.

It is the tuning of the universe… It’s as if at the beginning of the symphony God turns up the volume just a tiny bit.

I have a definition of success.

If you make a mistake, celebrate.

The conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful.

This is the moment — this is the most important moment right now. Which is: We are about contribution. That’s what our job is. It’s not about impressing people. It’s not about getting the next job. It’s about contributing something.

Who am I being that my players’ eyes are not shining?

The job of the leader is to speak to the possibility.

I make myself a relentless architect of the possibilities of human beings.

We can replace the narratives that hold us back by inventing wiser stories, free from childish fears, and, in doing so, disperse long-held psychological stumbling blocks.

how absurd human beings are and how magnificent.

Look at their eyes. If their eyes are shining, you know you’re doing it.

How often do we stand convinced of the truth of our early memories, forgetting that they are assessments made by a child?

Everybody loves classical music they just don’t know about it yet.