"Editing is now the easiest thing on earth to do, and all the things that evolved out of word processing - 'Oh, let's put that sentence there, let's get rid of this' - have become commonplace in films and music too."

"I hate talking about music, to tell you the truth."

"I've had quite a lot of luck with dreams. I've often awoken in the night with a phrase or even a whole song in my head."

"I'm actually an evangelical atheist, but there is something I recognise about religion: that it gives people a chance to surrender."

"The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes."

"The pursuit of excellence requires knowing that the silence between the notes creates the music."

"Growing up, there was only classical music on BBC Radio. We had to listen to the American Forces Network in Germany, which played pop songs, or the pirate radio boats off the coast."

"The silent observer understands that the silence between the notes creates the music."