Stephen Hough

Few occupations pass the solitary hours more fruitfully than the playing of a musical instrument.

musical-instrument pass playing more

In anything, there has to be that moment of fasting, really, in order to enjoy the feast.

feast anything moment enjoy

Silence is the necessary soil for any thought to flourish.

necessary thought soil silence

I wanted to be a monk at some time in my life, or a priest, so there was a kind of reflex quite early on not to be attached to anything that might be taken away.

my-life some time life

Out of silence is born concentration, and from that comes learning.

concentration born learning silence

The daily glitter of skyscrapers competing with the stars is an unnecessary, unforgivable decadence.

skyscrapers daily glitter stars

Live in the present moment. The past and future are nonexistent. Only the present can be grasped or, better, embraced.

better moment future past

Traveling the road can be quite tiresome.

traveling quite road tiresome

Life is an incurable disease leading to death, but it's also an unrequested gift, which, if we can manage to keep giving it away to others, can keep giving back everything to us.

gift giving life death

I've twice been on the point of giving up my performing career to train for the priesthood.

career giving-up train giving

Most people are at a concert because they want to be inspired, entertained, moved; we musicians have the mission to be bringers of joy, of ecstasy.

musicians mission joy people

The Internet tempts us to think that because an email or a new website can be accessed in seconds that everything works at the same instant speed. Art is more like the growth of a plant. It needs time and space.

internet growth time art

Food waste is an atrocity that is reducible, if not completely avoidable.

atrocity waste food

I'd never thought about living in London until about 1999.

never thought living london

I have had a place in New York in the musicians' district on the Upper West Side since 1986.

musicians new place new-york

If you are not living in the same area when you are looking for property, it is a nightmare because you come down for a day or two, have appointments to see places, and have to be able to make instant decisions before flying off to St. Louis or somewhere.

looking down day you

I've always written - about music, art, things going on around the world. The danger is that it becomes too personal. I don't think people want it at that level of intimacy.

music people world art

My principal commitment is playing the piano. But I always loved words.

loved words principal commitment

Painting is just a hobby. I really don't think of it much more than that. But writing music and writing words... my life would feel as if it had a big hole if I took those away.

words my-life music life

I don't think of faith as something that's like a rock, that never changes. I think it's something that's very fluid, always changing.

never think always faith