Marvin Hamlisch Quotes

I still have great faith in what is good and right in all of us.

I think that when NASA works on a moon shot, they know too well that all of the people working on it must do their job at 110 percent. Sometimes they probably put in 18 hour days, but they're aiming for the moon, and that's what counts.

I can make a song up about anything: garbage, the weather, things in the news.

If I'm within reach and can be helpful, I have a tendency to say 'Yes.' It's hard to say 'No.'

There have been studies that clearly state that children who are exposed to arts education at a young age will in fact do markedly better in their SAT tests.

As I get older, I'm slowing down and, yes, calming down in my desire to be taken seriously. That I can be entertaining and funny and high nervous energy can work against me as a serious composer, slowly but surely you'll see me be quieter just so that people will listen.

My show business career doesn't mean I can't write a symphony. It just means I was never asked to write one.

Let's say music is needed for only 43 seconds of film. You have to score it so it is an entity, so it won't bother anyone when it ends so quickly. Or if a song runs 2 minutes and 45 seconds, but the titles run a minute longer, you have to arrange that song so it doesn't get repetitious.

From the time I could play the piano, I remember trying to write tunes. They were in my head, and I would just sit down and start noodling. Next thing I knew, I had written a melody.

My whole thing is not just to play music for people, but to make them part of the evening.

Many, many years ago, I was one of the few conductors who talked to the audience and now a lot of classical conductors have figured it out ... otherwise, you just get the back of someone's head playing music you could hear on a CD. It's not enough anymore.