Sondheim Songs Quotes & Sayings

I don't listen to recordings of my songs. I don't avoid it, I just don't go out of my way to do it. — Stephen Sondheim

If the husband sits on a chair in the Garden of Eden, his wife is his footstool. — I.L. Peretz

Every single song I've ever written is sung by a character created by somebody else. Some might have a jaundiced view of love, some don't. But none of these songs is me singing - not a single one. — Stephen Sondheim

Somewhere close behind air and water is the need for food. — L.J. Martin

Stephen Sondheim told me that Oscar Hammerstein believed everything that he wrote. So there's great truth in the songs, and that's what was so wonderful to find. — Bernadette Peters

And in the future, you know, maybe there's kids in the future for me, I don't really know. The interesting thing with me is that there has never been a woman doing what I'm doing at this level for this long. So, it's like, would Vince give me maternity leave? — Trish Stratus

Take off your rubber and there's one more inside her, it's not yours, who can it be? — Slick Rick

Together forever, never apart. Maybe in distance but never in heart. — Maggi Myers

So many good songs get written fast, because you know exactly what has to work. — Stephen Sondheim

I am writing better Stephen Sondheim songs than even Stephen Sondheim is writing. — Pete Townshend

I can't get rid of the sadness," Laronne said.
"Well," David said, "then we'll just keep it company. — Heidi Durrow

I was essentially trained by Oscar Hammerstein to think of songs as one-act plays, to move a song from point A to point B dramatically. — Stephen Sondheim

Puzzles are like songs - A good puzzle can give you all the pleasure of being duped that a mystery story can. It has surface innocence, surprise, the revelation of a concealed meaning, and the catharsis of solution. — Stephen Sondheim

Almost all the shows I've been connected with have been extremely well cast. They're playing the show, not just doing the songs. — Stephen Sondheim

I don't write songs apart from theatrical pieces. I'm not interested in writing songs qua songs. — Stephen Sondheim

On stage, generally speaking, the story is stopped or held back by songs, because that's the convention. Audiences enjoy the song and the singer, that's the point. — Stephen Sondheim

Success is what you do with your ability. It's how you use your talent. — George Allen, Sr.

You can only be a virgin once. There can only be one first time. — Diane Lane

How-how do you do?" I asked. My heart was pounding. Blood boiled in my ears.
"It is not possible to make a mistake," she assured me.
I did not know this was a customary greeting given by all Bokonists when meeting a shy person. So, I responded with a feverish discussion of whether it was possible to make a mistake or not.
"My God, you have no idea how many mistakes I've already made. You're looking at the world's champion mistakemaker. — Kurt Vonnegut

I want a blaze of light to flame in me forever in a timeless, dear love of everything. And why should I pretend to want anything else? — Jack Kerouac

I get some flak for and some resistance from colleagues for because I'm interested in storytelling. I mean what I like about songwriting is songs used to tell a story. — Stephen Sondheim

Hit songs did not come out of musicals. Pop-rock was creating the hits. There were very few songs that made the charts out of any Broadway musical. — Stephen Sondheim

After the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution, songs became part of the story, as opposed to just entertainments in between comedy scenes. — Stephen Sondheim

Cleverness is serviceable for everything, sufficient for nothing. — Henri Frederic Amiel

I like songs that are part of a dramatic texture, and therefore I like the scenes to be active. I wanna follow the story and that means you lean on the actors. — Stephen Sondheim

I was a fashion editor for years in London before I came to 'Vogue,' and I spent my life arranging the folds of a ball gown skirt for a picture and pinning fabric and using all those stylist tricks. And you don't have to do that now because they can do it in Photoshop. — Hamish Bowles

Both of my parents are actors and directors and whatnot. My dad loves really solid, old school, Broadway musicals, and one of them is 'Assassins' by Stephen Sondheim. All of the successful or non-successful assassins that have ever existed in the United States come together, and they talk about their killing or attempts through songs. — Will Rothhaar

It was our relationship, so what other people thought shouldn't matter. — Jodi Meadows

Don't come into the presence of God to impress Him with something He gave you! — T.D. Jakes

I didn't really want to write just lyrics, but I wanted to meet Leonard Bernstein. Music was always the first reason I was writing songs. — Stephen Sondheim

I just try to speak passionately about things I'm involved in and moved by. — K.d. Lang