I tell my kids and I tell proteges, always have humility when you create and grace when you succeed, because it's not about you. You are a terminal for a higher power. As soon as you accept that, you can do it forever.
Interpretation
Stay humble in your creativity and graceful in your success, recognizing that your talents are given to you for a greater purpose.
Quincy Jones emphasizes the importance of humility and grace in the journey of creativity and success. He suggests that recognizing oneself as a conduit for a higher power fosters a mindset that allows one to sustain their achievements and contributions for the long term, reminding us that individual success is tied to something greater than ourselves.
In practice
During a motivational speech, one could quote Quincy Jones to inspire young artists to remain humble.
Just blow in it and sound bad for about a year and then make it sound a little bit better, and you get a little band together, and then you get a few jobs. You take four guys that sound half bad, but if they're 25 percent each, they can give 100 percent, you know?
Music in movies is all about dissonance and consonance, tension and release.
When you produce an album, you're dealing with it theatrically. It has to have a structure, and the inner response to that is that the ear loves it.
You can study orchestration, you can study harmony and theory and everything else, but melodies come straight from God.
I got a scholarship to Seattle University and I was writing arrangements for singers and everybody. But the music course was too dry and I really wanted to get away from home.
I think the attraction of 'American Idol' is about the basic human nature attitude that is, 'We can put you up there. But we can take you down.'
Do not love leisure. Waste not a minute. Be bold. Realize the Truth, here and now!
Fortune is like the market, where, many times, if you can stay a little, the price will fall.
People in both fields operate with beliefs and biases. To the extent you can eliminate both and replace them with data, you gain a clear advantage.
One man with a head on his shoulders is worth a dozen without.
I'm merely trying to give you the sort of argument that would appeal to your intelligence.
Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours.
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