Joshua Bell

I hope I will always have the chance to play the violin.

I never had any real expectations about what sort of success I would have or all the publicity.

A conductor can do wild things which can feel forced, but if you're directing from within the orchestra, you can't do that, things have to feel natural.

I use Facebook quite a lot to keep up with my friends, although I had to delete 'Words With Friends' from my phone because it was wasting too much of my time.

Although I hardly ever turn on the TV set unless it's football season, I do watch a lot of TV on my iPad - perfect for long airplane journeys.

I'm in a position where, theoretically, I could play the same ten concertos and make a very good living bouncing around playing Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Barber, but I really think artists should keep pushing limits and trying new things.

I love the outdoor festival feeling.

You only live once, so I try to say yes to everything.

The violin sings.

You're a constant student, as a musician.

I mean, the great secret is that an orchestra can actually play without a conductor at all. Of course, a great conductor will have a concept and will help them play together and unify them.

There's nothing more frustrating than seeing a conductor say, 'Play softer,' as they're waving their hands in huge gestures.

I was lucky enough to have parents who started me on music very early, but most kids don't get that kind of exposure.

For some reason I can't explain, artist and musicians tend to look younger than our age. Being in music, you need this youthful sense of discovery and wonder for what you're doing and keep your imagination open. That's a youthful way of looking at life and I think that reflects in how you age.

Over the years, I've collected a lot of musical friends.

I grew up in a musical family, but nobody was a professional musician.

I write arrangements. I'm sort of a wannabe composer.

We live in the least ugly time in history.

In art and music, particularly in the 20th century, there was a big period there where for something to be called profound you had to not be able to understand it.

The man on the street, he knows who Beethoven is, he knows who Mozart is.