“I never felt like a prodigy. For one thing, the root of the word is ra...” — Hilary Hahn Quote

“I never felt like a prodigy. For one thing, the root of the word is rather monstrous, literally. I never really felt like a monster or anything abnormal, because I always had a lot of different interests. But kids tend to focus on one thing, and for me it was violin.”

“As a young performer, what you need to be doing is building your technique and musicality, not promoting your abilities - unless you're ready to take on all that will result from such an approach.”

“When we talk about music, we tend to place our experiences into one of two categories: making the music and listening to it. Delineating the two seems practical and obvious. In reality, though, there are a lot of opportunities for overlap, and it doesn't matter how you get into the music as long as you connect with it.”

“It wasn't until school that we realised that we were abnormal.”

“I don't really have to switch on and switch off because I enjoy the process of enacting a role on the sets, all those mad hours of shoot and then heading home after work. I don't divide it like normal and abnormal life. For me, the entire process of doing my work and heading home is normal.”

“To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.”