Ilaiyaraaja

“In whosever presence you find peace of mind, devoid of fear, only that person can be your guru.”

“You can realise God as you progress in music; nothing in between.”

“Western, jazz, folk, or tribal music, whatever the form, they all have the same sapta swaras as the basis.”

“Music is a continuous process. You evolve with every song.”

“I don't believe in making two songs similar. Every composition must have its own unique character.”

“The dictionary contains thousands of words on Tamil music. I am not familiar with most of the words, but it shows the rich past of Tamil music.”

“Music is nothing but sound, and there is no place for value judgement among various sounds.”

“Questioning the origin of music is like asking why the breeze is soothing, why you shiver in exhilaration when the spray from the waterfall hits you.”

“Music has done much more for me than I have for music.”

“Music happens. It cannot be made.”

“Music is as vast as the sky, the oceans, the universe.”

“In music, there is no country; there is no time.”

“Music and religion keep me young.”

“In my early years, I would be in the studio till 11 P.M. Come home, have bath and dinner, and write music till 2 A.M. I would wake up by 4, sit down to do my music, and be at the studio at sharp 7 A.M.”

“My music is for the world. Let them enjoy it.”

“Isn't composing music akin to film direction?”

“I consider all women as mother. I compose poems for any female considering her as mother.”

“Ideally, the music composed these days should sound much better because of the technology, right? But that's not the fact. The sounds that you hear out of technological recording are programmed sounds coming out of a computer.”