"I attended less than two years of Conservatory in Mexico City."

"I was married at 16, a father at 17 and divorced at 18."

"The public is a part of my real life."

"On the other hand, I have devoted so much energy to reach the top that I accept the stress of being there."

"When a young artist is ready, one has to bring him into the limelight."

"When I was a young man, I was a baritone, very far from possessing the whole range of the tenor then."

"Should it happen tomorrow, I would fall to my knees to give thanks to God for such a career."

"Don't you think it astonishing that, at 58, I am still working at improving my career?"

"But I won't deprive myself of singing opera as long as my voice follows."

"Honestly, if the public still wants to hear me in some works, I have to go down a half step."

"Every three days on average, I am alone on stage, facing the public."

"The voice collects and translates your bad physical health, your emotional worries, your personal troubles."

"This circus games aspect has existed since the beginning of my career."

"I feel at home in an orchestral score."

"With my personal preparation at the piano, I can afford to hum at half voice."

"I will prove that a great conducting career is expecting me."

"The press regularly proclaims my ambitions and my financial demands."

"I then realized that I could never be satisfied again with the mere natural charm of my voice, that I had to constantly paint when singing, melting all the colors, expressing reds and blacks that had to be less primary but bursting with subtly colored combinations."

"The public made me and then encouraged me for many years, and my future even now depends upon it."

"But enough joking. I am singing. This is all my life."

"I am never wrong when it comes to my possibilities."

"In the last century, everybody was singing lower."

"Between parts I was too old for and roles that were too overwhelming, out of reach then for my voice. I carved out a niche with the Wagnerian repertoire since I am attracted by its theatrical intensity."

"Singing becomes a form of therapy."

"We all have a destiny in accordance with the breadth of our shoulders. My shoulders are broad."

"When facing symphonic orchestras which have played some works five thousands times, you have nothing to do."

"Let us be clear: I take ten times more money for a concert than for an opera performance."

"If money was my only motivation, I would organize myself differently."

"The atmosphere of the theater is my oxygen."

"It is strange, but nobody is shocked when pop singers make a fortune in the space of two years."

"My strength is my enthusiasm."

"To stay at my best, I have to stop talking during the preceding day."