Yanni Quotes - Page 3

That adage about genius being 5 percent inspiration and 95 perspiration - it's true.

When I create music, it is a reflection of my soul, my experiences in life and my relationships with other people and cultures. Psychology, and understanding who we are as people in this world, is present in almost every creative thought I have.

My father once said, ‘If the whole world wants to go left and you feel like going right, go right. You don’t have to follow. You don’t have to make a big deal about which way you’re going. Just go. It’s very easy.’

It’s a cliché - but true - that life is not a dress rehearsal. You get to do it once, so do it well.

I have been fortunate to have a career that has allowed me to travel the world and come in contact with many different cultures and people.

There are so many messages and lessons that I have been taught that I would want to share with people. Perhaps one that is very present in my mind now is the concept that we are all living on this one tiny planet that we call Earth. It is very small and is not getting any bigger, but the amount of people living on this planet continues to grow at a rapid rate.

Perhaps one of the most important lessons that I continue to have reinforced is to always have faith and believe in yourself. To never lose sight of who you are and to know yourself.

Ever since I left Greece more than two decades ago, it has been my dream to return and perform at the Acropolis. This project took more than a year and a half to plan and accomplish, and I would like to thank my band and crew and the scores of people involved in helping my dream become a reality.

In the English language, I can love my car, or my house, or my daughter, or traveling, but in Greek and how I grew up, love is described with different words.

Going to the school to meet the visually impaired was special. I thought I was inspiring them. I was thinking what I could possibly say to inspire them. Instead of me inspiring them, I felt they inspired me. They showed me how much courage they have, and how hard these teachers are working for these children. They made me feel like I don’t have any problems in life. It gave me uplift. They made me feel so great.

It’s really strange, but they speak to me — the notes and the chords. So when I hear other people’s music, I can feel the composer. Whoever created that, I can see in their soul.

I am so happy that I didn’t go to school and I didn’t have anyone to tell me how to position my fingers on the piano correctly.

While most of the music I write is instrumental, I love to use the human voice as another instrument.

You do good work for a long-enough time, I believed, and you'd get noticed.

Not being able to read and write music is not the same as being illiterate in speech and writing.

Truth is the number one element in whatever you do with music.

Maybe we didn't have many possessions, but we never went hungry, were cold, or lacked love.

If you are a professional, the speed with which you react to a potential problem separates the men from the boys.

It’s like flight, you’re flying… When you’re hitting something that’s turning you on, you get goose bumps. It’s a rush. It’s very exciting and that’s what I’m hoping to do to the audience.

The live concerts are everything and I’m very grateful that most of my career, I’m a live artist, I’ve been doing this. So I’ve traveled quite a lot, played in - I never stopped playing.

I'd decided to take the risk, and either I'd succeed or else.

I don't really like to explain my songs.

I just would use any instrument known to man in any combination as long as it describes an emotion.