There are 2 rules in life: Number 1- Never quit Number2- Never forget rule number 1.

- Duke Ellington

Music, of course, is what I hear and something that I more or less live by. It's not an occupation or profession, it's a compulsion.

- Duke Ellington

The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.

- Duke Ellington

A problem is a chance for you to do your best.

- Duke Ellington

A goal is a dream with a finish line.

- Duke Ellington

Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.

- Duke Ellington

If you have a great band with a mediocre drummer, you have a mediocre band. If you have a mediocre band with a great drummer, you have a great band!

- Duke Ellington

Put it this way: Jazz is a good barometer of freedom... In its beginnings, the United States of America spawned certain ideals of freedom and indepen…

- Duke Ellington

Everyone prays in their own language, and there is no language that God does not understand.

- Duke Ellington