Oscar Levant Quotes

Why do you always insist on playing while I'm trying to conduct?

The conductor is a peculiar person. He turns his back on his friends in the audience, shakes a stick at his players in the orchestra, and then wonders why nobody loves him.

Today, conducting is a question of ego: a lot of people believe they are actually playing the music.

The position of power and having to make decisions that you don't necessarily want to make is always good conflict and good drama.

I conduct faster so you can see my beat.

Where power is concerned, the theater enters.

I don't mind not being President; I just mind that someone else is.

The tyrant is always stirring up some war or another, in order that the people may require a leader.

Now I know how Jack feels when he has told three people that they can each be Secretary of State.

Without false modesty, I feel that, when I'm on the stage, I'm the king, the boss of the situation.

The biggest problem is when a player asks a captain why he is not playing but does not want an honest answer.

There's nothing worse than working with an orchestra who looks down on working with a conductor who doesn't want to conduct for you. You need to be with an orchestra that can follow you and respect you.

You have to build a team, but someone's got to lead, and someone's got to be unpopular at times.

Anytime you're playing with a team that's losing, the main guy is going to take a lot of the heat.

When you have the ball in your hand, you're the most important guy in the whole organization.

Being the frontperson is great because you're running the show.

Rafa Benitez - man with huge experience who knew how the club operated - could not get the results Real wanted and couldn't walk away from the fights that erupted in the dressing room and the boardroom.

I think coaches sometimes think it's always their way.

It's part of the captain's job to keep people on their toes.

I've definitely gotten to the point where we get to the venue, and people know that I'm in charge of the band.

When you are captain at the same time, that's when it gets difficult and when your own game starts to decay because you have other worries and pressures.

When you're a point guard, man, if you're not up to par, you're in a lot of trouble.

I've definitely grown into the job after that difficult first Test against Pakistan. I'd been captain for the Sri Lanka one-dayers, which hadn't gone well, and all the talk was that I only had that one Test as captain.

If you do the job out there on the pitch and you have it under control, as in my case, you want more. You want more responsibility. You want to take care of it all. That is the case with me.

There's always been conflict, inherent conflict between players and coaches.