Time and timelessness are connected. This instant and eternity are struggling within us. And this is the cause of all our contradictions, our obstinacy, our narrowmindedness, our faith and our grief.

If people simply hear the word 'God' they become sad; it is sad when it has that effect. But wonders are forever occurring and people who think like that today will think differently tomorrow.

[Asked why he composes:] For me it's like breathing in and out. It's my life. What does a child do when he plays on his own? He sings. Why does he sing? Well, he is happy about something pretty, inspired by something. That is something quite healthy, quite natural. For adults this state is considerably more complex, for this harmony is smashed into pieces, it's lost. But can I exist without composing, my soul and my spirit? Music is already my language. My music can be an inner secret, even my confession. But what is my confession? I don't confess in the concert hall, in front of an audience. It is directed toward higher instances. The necessity for composing has many layers. They are like bridges, put on top of each other. And you never know which one you are just passing. Some are dangerous and you fall. Most important for me: that I cannot say in a few thousand sentences what I can say in a few notes.

In the Soviet Union, I once spoke with a monk and asked him how, as a composer, one can improve oneself. He answered me by saying that he knew of no solution. I told him that I also wrote prayers, and set prayers and the text of psalms to music, and that perhaps this would be of help to me as a composer. To this he said, 'No, you are wrong. All the prayers have already been written. You don't need to write any more. Everything has been prepared. Now you have to prepare yourself'. I believe that there's a truth in that.

Arvo Pärt, from various interviews