Quotes from Itzhak Perlman

The danger in playing a piece over and over again lies in getting stuck in a rut where you don't ask questions anymore and you always play it the same way.

When you are 8 or 9, you should have a childhood. You should have adolescence. You should go through everything in a normal way.

The thing about talent is that it comes at different ages, sometimes at a very early age. That's when I find it to be the most challenging.

I am playing the violin, that's all I know, nothing else, no education, no nothing. You just practice every day.

Every musical phrase has a purpose. It's like talking. If you talk with a particular purpose, people listen to you, but if you just recite, it's not as meaningful.

For people who are really talented, what you don't say becomes extremely important. You have to judge what to say and what to leave alone so you can let the talent develop.

Trust your ability!

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.

Sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.

This has been my vocation to make music of what remains.

This machine, the wheelchair, I can go all over the place, but you need a place without stairs to get in.

You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.

I went to an airport and asked for a wheelchair. There were three of us in wheelchairs and only two porters, so the guy took two of us at the same time. I cannot tell you how humiliating that is.

If you learn something slowly, you forget it slowly. If you learn something very quickly, you forget it immediately.

I have a very simple philosophy. One has to separate the abilities from the disabilities. The fact I cannot walk, that I need crutches or a scooter or whatever it is, has nothing to do with my playing the violin.

If you put your hand on the piano, you play a note. It's in tune. But if you put it on the violin, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. You have to figure it out.

In the musician, there is a tendency to have a narrowness. It's all compartmentalized. I am playing the violin; that's all I know, nothing else, no education, no nothing. You just practice every day.

I actually wanted to play the violin before I had polio, and then afterwards, there was no reason not to.

Another thing that I don't like to do is show too much how it goes. I do it once in a blue moon. Sometimes there are lessons when I don't pick up a violin at all.

So many things can drive you mad as a child, not only music.

I am playing the violin, that's all I know, nothing else, no education, no nothing. You just practice every day.