Shostakovich was a very nervous person. He was shy and very self-critical. He hated having to talk to people he did not know. He did not sit still, always fidgeting and twitching his face nervously. He was, however, always very polite and very kind to everyone he met. He was very careful not to criticize musicians who asked him for advice. He said very little, but what he said was carefully thought out. He wrote lots of letters to the authorities to try to help his friends. He was very reliable, and always tried to arrive on time. In his last years, he found it very difficult to use his hands because of his illness, but he always insisted on writing down his music himself.