Itzhak Perlman

“Believe me, I've had interviews where the person says, 'So when did you start and why? What about your parents?' I say to them, 'Please, have you heard of the word 'Google?'”

“Any gifted child can potentially get in real trouble because of the way they are handled.”

“I have always been very proud of my Jewish heritage, which has greatly influenced my music, my world view, and my work as an advocate for individuals whom society often leaves behind.”

“Preparing for a future in music is an expensive proposition.”

“Everybody's saying, you know, 'You're so heroic and so on despite of the polio that you had and so on.' Look, I had polio when I was four. So when you're four years old, you know, you get used to things very, very quickly.”

“If you can read, then you can recite Shakespeare. But that's not acting.”

“Brahms is one of my all-time favorite composers.”

“Only one of my grandchildren is serious about a musical instrument. The others dabble in it.”

“As for minimalism, I don't care, don't care, don't care to repeat myself, repeat myself.”

“To bring a large audience to a piece of serious music and make it accessible does not mean reducing it in any way. And I've learned that if something is good, even if it is a little difficult, people will get that it is good.”

“I think that music has to do with what kind of passion do you have.”

“I'm now doing three things: concerts, conducting, and teaching, and they each support each other. I learn to see things from different perspectives and listen with different ears. The most important thing that you need to do is really listen.”

“Television will always err on the side of making something not quite as classy as it could be.”

“If you put four different people on a podium conducting the same downbeat, you get four different sounds. It's a little mysterious and fascinating. There's so much you can do with motions and body movements besides giving accurate beats.”

“Whenever I play recitals, the part where I talk about music and my experiences of music, audiences always like it. They feel more involved with an artist who talks to them. It's a nice experience for me as well.”

“I love to work with young kids.”

“So many things can drive you mad as a child, not only music.”

“I say to string players in small chamber orchestras, 'it's always easy to become a passenger on the journey in sound, just adding volume to the whole. But if you play in an individual way, it makes the difference between good and great sound in an orchestra.'”

“The most important thing to do is really listen.”

“Every person with a disability is an individual.”