Quotes from Itzhak Perlman

I have always been very proud of my Jewish heritage, which has greatly influenced my music, my world view, and my work as an advocate for individuals whom society often leaves behind.

As for minimalism, I don't care, don't care, don't care to repeat myself, repeat myself.

Every person with a disability is an individual.

When you live in a small country such as Israel, the dream of any musician is to go abroad.

Trust your ability!

Life is always full of challenges. I believe you're never happy unless you're consistently making challenges for yourself.

Any gifted child can potentially get in real trouble because of the way they are handled.

I'm a great sports fan, you know. I love to watch tennis and basketball and baseball and so on.

I couldn't only do one thing--I don't want the personal hell of oneness.

When you talk about a million bucks, if you think about it very carefully, it's not that much money, if you start to divide it. You have to figure out a philosophy as to whom you want to give it to.

If you put four different people on a podium conducting the same downbeat, you get four different sounds. It's a little mysterious and fascinating. There's so much you can do with motions and body movements besides giving accurate beats.

I'm a mushroom freak. I make a mushroom soup where I use maybe six or seven varieties, not just portobello and shiitake, but dried porcini and morels.

A lot of society tries to put people with disabilities into one cube, and when you think about it, many, many people have different types of disabilities, and you cannot put a code that applies to towards everyone - generally, they can be guidelines, but in the long run, interior designers and architects need more education on the subject.

Only one of my grandchildren is serious about a musical instrument. The others dabble in it.

There is no such thing as getting rid of nervousness.

A sponge has that much absorbent capability and after a while you can pour water over it and nothing stays.

The problems of the disabled are unpopular.

When you play a concerto with a small orchestra, you don't feel it is as important as Carnegie Hall. You try to work out all the little problems. Once that's all done, trust comes in.

I have just one fiddle. It works, and that's it. It has been an old friend.

The difference is that with Ebola, it is such a devastating disease, and there is still no cure. They're still working on vaccines. The fact of the matter with polio, there is a cure; there is a vaccine.

I love to work with young kids.

That makes classical music work, the ability to improvise.

I am an eternal optimist. I always say 'Yihyeh Tov' or 'It'll get better.'

You get more nervous in front of a lot of people. That's why, when you play a concerto, you play with a small orchestra, in some place where you don't feel that it is as important as Carnegie Hall.