… I am so hard on myself. In fact, it was very hard for me to accept compliments for a very long time. I sort of learned to do it. Because I wanted to say, “Are you kidding? That sucked!” I always feel like I could have been better. You have to have that, because if you think you’re great you’re not going to get better. But I once had a guy stop me on the street who said something really over the top, but kind of sincere: “I saw your concert, it was the best night of my life” or something like that. And I was so uncomfortable with it, I said, “Well, you need to get out more!” He seemed horrified, and I felt so bad afterwards. I thought I was being self-deprecating, and I realized that that’s not what someone like that wants to hear. So I’ve had to learn how to just say thank you.

This is part of a Mother Jones Joshua Bell interview. (Warning: f-bomb)