The First Thing To Do In Life

As Long As One Can Admire And Love, Then One Is Young Forever.

For The Past Eighty Years I Have Started Each Day In The Same Manner. It Is Not A Mechanical Routine, But Something Essential To My Daily Life. I Go To The Piano, And Play Two Preludes And Fugues Of Bach. I Cannot Think Of Doing Otherwise. It Is A Sort Of Benediction On The House. But That Is Not Its Only Meaning For Me. It Is A Rediscovery Of The World Of Which I Have The Joy Of Being A Part. It Fills Me With Awareness Of The Wonder Of Life, With A Feeling Of The Incredible Marvel Of Being A Human Being.

What Do We Teach Our Children? . . . We Should Say To Each Of Them: Do You Know What You Are? You Are A Marvel. You Are Unique . . . You May Become A Shakespeare, A Michelangelo, A Beethoven. You Have The Capacity For Anything.

You Must Work, We Must All Work, To Make The World Worthy Of Its Children.

I Have Always Regarded Manual Labour As Creative And Looked With Respect-and, Yes, Wonder-at People Who Work With Their Hands. It Seems To Me That Their Creativity Is No Less Than That Of A Violinist Or Painter.