Stephen Sondheim citations

“I prefer neurotic people. I like to hear rumblings beneath the surface.”

“Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.”

“You're so nice. You're not good, you're not bad, You're just nice. I'm not good, I'm not nice, I'm just right. I'm the witch. You're the world.”

“At last, my arm is complete again”

“They all deserve to die.
Even you, Mrs. Lovett
Even I.

Because the lives of the wicked should be made brief
For the rest of us death would be relief.”

“The worst thing you can do is censor yourself as the pencil hits the paper. You must not edit until you get it all on paper. If you can put everything down, stream-of-consciousness, you'll do yourself a service.”

“Oh if life were made of moments
Even now and then a bad one--!
But if life were only moments,
Then you'd never know you had one.”

“Sometimes people leave you
Halfway through the wood
Others may decieve you
You decide what's good
You decide alone
But no one is alone”

“Work is what you do for others, liebchen. Art is what you do for yourself.”

“The difference between a cow and a bean is a bean can begin an adventure.”

“One difference between poetry and lyrics is that lyrics sort of fade into the background. They fade on the page and live on the stage when set to music.”

“The dumbing down of the country reflects itself on Broadway. The shows get dumber, and the public gets used to them.”

“Nice is different than good.”

“I'm a lazy writer. My idea of heaven is not writing. On the other hand, I'm obviously compulsive about it.”

“Without question, Steve is the best Broadway lyricist, past or present.”