Steve López

“Your violin has only two strings,” I say. “You’re missing the other two.” Yes, he says. He’s well aware. “All I want to do is play music, and the crisis I’m having is right here. This one’s gone,” he says of the missing top string, “that one’s gone, and this little guy’s almost out of commission.” His goal in life, Nathaniel tells me, is to figure out how to replace the strings. But he got used to playing imperfect instruments while taking music classes in Cleveland’s public schools, and there’s a lot you can do, he assures me, with just two strings”

“It's more interesting to be out in the world. than to see it reflected in the mirror.”

“Negativity is never an option”

“It is possible to cause seemingly biochemical changes through human emotional involvement. You literally have changed his chemistry by being his friend.”

“.. a friend is someone who inspires, who challenges, who sends you in search of some truer sense of yourself..”