Marvin Hamlisch

“As I get older, I'm slowing down and, yes, calming down in my desire to be taken seriously. That I can be entertaining and funny and high nervous energy can work against me as a serious composer, slowly but surely you'll see me be quieter just so that people will listen.”

“I have always thought of music as a highway with many lanes.”

“There have been studies that clearly state that children who are exposed to arts education at a young age will in fact do markedly better in their SAT tests.”

“My show business career doesn't mean I can't write a symphony. It just means I was never asked to write one.”

“I was always drawn to Broadway musicals, and obviously composers like Gershwin, Rodgers, Berlin and Porter were writing music that I found wildly impressive.”

“I never took any vocal training.”

“The biggest thrill you can have is to tell people one of your songs, and have them be able to hum it.”

“Maybe I'm old-fashioned. But I remember the beauty and thrill of being moved by Broadway musicals - particularly the endings of shows.”

“You know, anyone who invites me to do something makes me feel special.”

“I'm not one of those people who says, 'I never read reviews,' because I don't believe those people.”

“My whole thing is not just to play music for people, but to make them part of the evening.”

“I can make a song up about anything: garbage, the weather, things in the news.”

“I still have great faith in what is good and right in all of us.”

“I started studying music at the age of five and a half. My older sister was taking piano lessons. When her teacher left our apartment, I would get up on the piano bench and start picking out the notes that were part of my sister's lessons.”

“Many, many years ago, I was one of the few conductors who talked to the audience and now a lot of classical conductors have figured it out... otherwise, you just get the back of someone's head playing music you could hear on a CD. It's not enough anymore.”

“Let's say music is needed for only 43 seconds of film. You have to score it so it is an entity, so it won't bother anyone when it ends so quickly. Or if a song runs 2 minutes and 45 seconds, but the titles run a minute longer, you have to arrange that song so it doesn't get repetitious.”

“You mustn't underestimate an audience's intelligence.”

“Normally I can balance two or three things. The problem is when you're out of work and don't have anything to balance. I think people assume you're always busy. You go through dry spells.”

“I think that when NASA works on a moon shot, they know too well that all of the people working on it must do their job at 110 percent. Sometimes they probably put in 18 hour days, but they're aiming for the moon, and that's what counts.”

“If I'm within reach and can be helpful, I have a tendency to say 'Yes.' It's hard to say 'No.'”