For every child prodigy that you know about, at least 50 potential ones have burned out before you even heard about them. — Itzhak Perlman

Child prodigy is a curse because you’ve got all those terrible possibilities. — Itzhak Perlman

Any gifted child can potentially get in real trouble because of the way they are handled. — Itzhak Perlman

An amazing gift in a young child is, in some ways, an abnormality. — Itzhak Perlman

I listen to kids play a lot. — Itzhak Perlman

You get more nervous in front of a lot of people. That’s why, when you play a concerto, you play with a small orchestra, in some place where you don’t feel that it is as important as Carnegie Hall. — Itzhak Perlman

I feel that you always pay when you are a child. — Itzhak Perlman

When you play a concerto with a small orchestra, you don’t feel it is as important as Carnegie Hall. You try to work out all the little problems. Once that’s all done, trust comes in. — Itzhak Perlman

Believe me, I’ve had interviews where the person says, ‘So when did you start and why? What about your parents?’ I say to them, ‘Please, have you heard of the word Google? — Itzhak Perlman

Sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left. — Itzhak Perlman

I think that music has to do with what kind of passion do you have. — Itzhak Perlman

A lot of people like to think that polio was a inspiration in what I do. I think that music has to do with what kind of passion do you have. — Itzhak Perlman

Preparing for a future in music is an expensive proposition. — Itzhak Perlman

So many things can drive you mad as a child, not only music. — Itzhak Perlman

I always consider myself lucky that I can actually cry listening to some music. — Itzhak Perlman

I look at raising funds for The Perlman Music Program as a challenge and as a way to provide opportunities for people who care about the future of classical music. — Itzhak Perlman

In difficult times, people just like to hear music. They like to be moved by what they hear. And music speaks different languages. — Itzhak Perlman

That makes classical music work, the ability to improvise. — Itzhak Perlman

Beethoven concertos … Tchaicovsky concertos … with a lot of these wonderful masterpieces there’s always something wonderful to find … there’s always something new to find. — Itzhak Perlman

I do three things. I do teaching, I do conducting and I do playing. And each one of those sort of helps the other. — Itzhak Perlman

I am playing the violin, that’s all I know, nothing else, no education, no nothing. You just practice every day. — Itzhak Perlman

I don’t walk on stage unless I’m playing with a orchestra. But when I play a recital, I’m sort of on a scooter, and I just scoot very quickly on stage, and they’re saying, wow, look at this. He’s so fast. — Itzhak Perlman

Same thing with harmonies. If you hear something that harmonically is interesting, express it. So that’s what I’m saying about talking the music rather than just playing through. — Itzhak Perlman

In the musician, there is a tendency to have a narrowness. It’s all compartmentalized. I am playing the violin; that’s all I know, nothing else, no education, no nothing. You just practice every day. — Itzhak Perlman

I couldn’t only do one thing––I don’t want the personal hell of oneness. — Itzhak Perlman

I always find that there is a real communication between voice and violin. — Itzhak Perlman

If you play something well, I don’t care what it is. I mean, I don’t play an electric [violin]–I tried. It’s actually interesting. — Itzhak Perlman

Another thing that I don’t like to do is show too much how it goes. I do it once in a blue moon. Sometimes there are lessons when I don’t pick up a violin at all. — Itzhak Perlman

I’m just a one–instrument player. I have been known to play a blender, but I basically play–just play the violin. — Itzhak Perlman

The Violin of my dreams. If you wanna play a pianissimo that is almost inaudible and yet it carries through a hall that seats 3,000 people, there’s your Strad. — Itzhak Perlman

I always say separate your abilities from your disabilities. You know, if I could play the violin, I don’t have to play it standing up. I can play it sitting down and so on. — Itzhak Perlman