"Real folk music long ago went to Nashville and left no known survivors."

"The human brain can soften as a result of incessant listening to music with an intent to commit prose."

"Next to the writer of real estate advertisements, the autobiographer is the most suspect of prose artists."

"It will never be mistaken for a high school gymnasium or a meeting room in a Midwestern motel."

"It might be argued that genuine spontaneity is not really possible or desirable so long as printed scores of great works exist. All modern musicians are, for better or worse, prisoners of Gutenberg."