Joshua bell

The man on the street, he knows who Beethoven is, he knows who Mozart is.

In art and music, particularly in the 20th century, there was a big period there where for something to be called profound you had to not be able to understand it.

We live in the least ugly time in history.

When you play for ticket-holders, you are already validated. I have no sense that I need to be accepted. I'm already accepted.

A conductor can do wild things which can feel forced, but if you're directing from within the orchestra, you can't do that, things have to feel natural.

You don't have to have lots of love affairs to know what love is.

I'm in a position where, theoretically, I could play the same ten concertos and make a very good living bouncing around playing Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Barber, but I really think artists should...

So much of performing is a mind game.

I write arrangements. I'm sort of a wannabe composer.

I mean, the great secret is that an orchestra can actually play without a conductor at all. Of course, a great conductor will have a concept and will help them play together and unify them.