You won't be famous until people start saying the worst things they can about you. Don't worry! It's a good sign!
Music is not written in red, white and blue. It is written in the heart's blood of the composer. 
The first rule in opera is the first rule in life: see to everything yourself.
Always sing below your potential. 
What are we singers but the silver-voiced messengers of the poet and the musician?
Do everything yourself.
