Quotes on Music

Beware of missing chances; otherwise it may be altogether too late some day.

To analyze the charms of flowers is like dissecting music; it is one of those things which it is far better to enjoy, than to attempt to fully understand.

Hell, nobody knows where jazz is going to go. There may be a kid right now in Chitlin Switch, Georgia, who is going to come along and upset everybody.

Being a singer is a natural gift. It means I'm using to the highest degree possible the gift that god gave me to use. I'm happy with that.

I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity.

It was like being in the eye of a hurricane. You'd wake up in a concert and think, Wow, how did I get here?

We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.

Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.

I did all you can do with a clarinet. Any more would have been less.

Many people forget that Jazz, no matter what form it takes, must come from the heart as well as the mind.

Jazz will endure just as long people hear it through their feet instead of their brains.

Anybody can write music of a sort. But touching the public heart is quite another thing.

Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking.

Music is a gift and a burden I've had since I can remember who I was.

Music represents nature. Nature represents life. Jazz represents nature. Jazz is life.

I don't have a definition of Jazz. You're just supposed to know it when you hear it.

Jazz translates the moment into a sense of inspiration for not only the musicians but for the listeners.

You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians.

So What or Kind of Blue were done in that era, the right hour, the right day. It's over; it's on the record.

If you understood everything I say, you'd be me!

Sometimes I think I was making music through the wrong end of a magnifying glass.