Van Cliburn Quotations

An artist can be truly evaluated only after he is dead. At the very 11th hour, he might do something that will eclipse everything else.

has truly recognized and received my deep love and lifetime devotion.

I'm not a success, I'm a sensation.

But classical music is not entertainment, and I feel viciously strong about that. Classical music is forever. Entertainment is something that is here today, and may be gone tomorrow.

An artist can only be evaluated after he's dead. At the 11th hour he might do something that will eclipse everything else.

I have never known anyone from Texas, no matter how far they go or what they do, who isn't proud of being from Texas.

Everything I chose, I had already played in concert. For the competition, I wanted to pick pieces I know that people like.

The Steinway piano - with its beauty and power - is the perfect medium for expressing the performer's art, drama and poetry.

The brick of my life is music, but the mortar is faith.

Music is like painting in sound. You take it into your inner heart and never lose it. It's eternally mysterious.

If you hold onto the beauty and inspiration and the clarity that is music, you will have an anchor, you will not be too far swayed by what the world is