The Greatest Respect An Artist Can Pay

For Twelve Years I Studied And Worked At Them Every Day, And I Was Nearly 25 Before I Had The Courage To Play One Of Them In Public. Before I Did, No Violinist Or Cellist Had Ever Played A Suite In Its Entirety.

The Earth Becomes Heaven When You Release Your Fear. The Main Thing In Life Is Not To Be Afraid Of Being Human.

I Was At Mount Tamalpais Near San Francisco Hiking When A Boulder Came Hurling Down The Mountainside And Smashed My Left Hand. When I Looked At My Mangled Bloody Fingers, I Had A Strange Reaction. 'thank God I Will Never Have To Play Again,' I Said. The Fact Is That Dedication To One's Art Does Involve A Sort Of Enslavement.

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.

Man Has Made Many Machines, Complex And Cunning, But Which Of Them Indeed Rivals The Workings Of His Heart?