“Every singer eventually gets around to a Christmas disc.”

“No voice teacher can be all things to all people. You have to gain information from whatever sources you can. You have to listen.”

“Everybody's a work in progress. I'm a work in progress. I mean, I've never arrived... I'm still learning all the time.”

“Learning operatic roles is ongoing, and I find that I can learn on the train or subway, during a manicure, getting my hair done, and even while driving if I only look at the score at red lights.”

“I've always been inspired by artists who have shown musical and intellectual curiosity and the courage to take risks.”

“Having to travel so much plays havoc with your personal life.”

“Lost Time is never found again.”

“How you spend your time is more important than how you spend your money. Money mistakes can be corrected, but time is gone forever.”

“Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.”

“The misery in war-torn Afghanistan is reminiscent of images from the Thirty Years' War.”

“When I was five years old, I auditioned for the role of 'Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol.'”

“Yeah, I spent my teen years in West Virginia, and when I was a kid, in Louisiana. I definitely have that exposure to two different sorts of rural: the South and Appalachia.”

“I can't go outside, I know to much to be out there and I had never liked people.”

“And there were some things I didn't know I had until I lost them.”

“And there were some things I didn't know I had until I lost them.”