I learn something not because I have to, but because I really want to. Thats the same view I have for performing. Im performing because I really want to, not because I have to bring bread back home. – Yo-Yo Ma
The role of the musician is to go from concept to full execution. Put another way, its to go from understanding the content of something to really learning how to communicate it and make sure its well-received and lives in somebody else. – Yo-Yo Ma
One is that you have to take time, lots of time, to let an idea grow from within. The second is that when you sign on to something, there will be issues of trust, deep trust, the way the members of a string quartet have to trust one another. – Yo-Yo Ma
My teacher, my great cello teacher Leonard Rose, was such a great cellist, and nurturing man, very patient. But I grew up not only admiring him, but obviously Casals, Rostrotovich, Jacqueline du Pre, and many others, including many of my peers and contemporaries. – Yo-Yo Ma
If you really believe that youre making a difference and that you can leave a legacy of better schools and jobs and safer streets, why would you not spend the money? The objective is to improve the schools, bring down crime, build affordable housing, clean the streets – not to have a fair fight. – Michael Bloomberg