"To play music well, you need to strike a balance between your head, your heart, and your stomach. And if one of the three is not there or is there in too strong a dose, you cannot use it. What better …"

"Much as I have no wish to hurt anyone's feelings, my first obligation has not been to be nice but to be true to my perhaps peculiar memories, experiences and feelings."

"The intellectual's duty is to speak out against injustice, even when it is unpopular or dangerous."

"The intellectual is someone who is interested in the truth, not in power."

"The past is not a package to be opened, but a living, breathing thing that changes with each new interpretation."