If we are to understand the phenomena of nature, or the qualities of human beings, or the relationship of God or to some different, spiritual experience, we can learn much through music. Music is so very important and interesting to me because it is at the same time everything and nothing. If you wish to learn how to live in a democratic society, then you would do well to play in an orchestra. For when you do, you know when to lead and when to follow. You leave space for others and at the same time you have no inhibitions about claiming a space for yourself. And despite this, or maybe precisely because of it, music is the best means of escape from the problems of human existence.

Barenboim, Daniel, and Edward W. Said. Parallels and paradoxes: Explorations in music and society. Vintage, 2004.