Virgil Thomson's Quotes

I said to my friends that if I was going to starve, I might as well starve where the food is good.

Musicians own music because music owns them.

Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.

I don't go around regretting things that don't happen.

I look at you and I write down what I hear.

I've never known a musician who regretted being one. Whatever deceptions life may have in store for you, music itself is not going to let you down.

You explain how it went, and as far as you can figure out how it got that way.

I don't care what other critics say, I only hope to be played.

I don't have to worry No matter what they do to it, it works.

In Paris, you learn wit, in London you learn to crush your social rivals, and in Florence you learn poise.

Let your mind alone, and see what happens.

Reviewing music or reviewing anything is a writing job. It's nice if you are experienced in the field you are writing about, but writing is what you are doing.

I never learned to verbalize an abstract musical concept. No thank you. The whole point of being a serious musician is to avoid verbalization whenever you can.

I live in America. I have the right to write whatever I want. And it's equaled by another right just as powerful: the right not to read it. Freedom of speech includes the freedom to offend people.

We have an incredible warrior class in this country - people in law enforcement, intelligence - and I thank God every night we have them standing fast to protect us from the tremendous amount of evil that exists in the world.

Freedom of speech includes the freedom to offend people.

From the political angle, I'm trying to be apolitical if you will. I mean people say, 'Are you a red state or blue state?', I say, 'I'm purple.' I think there are great ideas on both sides of the aisle and neither side has cornered the market.

I really believe that a writer is someone who has trained their mind to misbehave.

If we talk about the glass being half empty or half full, I want to know what does the glass look like from underneath the table?

I like books that have razor-sharp plotting that snaps and moves along. It's not about the main character being different at the end. I don't want my main character to be different in the end. I still want him committed to his ideas, to be steadfast, true and loyal.

Al Qaeda doesn't abide by the Geneva Conventions, so in my opinion, they should not be afforded the protections of them.

Even one death is horrible.

I always have a different way of looking at things.