“When you sing with a group of people, you learn how to subsume yourself into a group consciousness because a capella singing is all about the immersion of the self into the community. That's one of the great feelings - to stop being me for a little while and to become us. That way lies empathy, the great social virtue.”

“It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.”

“Travel teaches toleration.”

“Never let your schooling interfere with your education.”

“There are only two kinds of languages: the ones people complain about and the ones nobody uses.”

“Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem.”