The problem of expressing the contributions that Benny Carter has made to popular music is so tremendous it completely fazes me, so extraordinary a musician is he.
DUKE ELLINGTONFate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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Self-discipline, as a virtue or an acquired asset, can be invaluable to anyone.
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Every man prays in his own language.
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The artist must say it without saying it.
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New York is a place where the rich walk, the poor drive Cadillacs, and beggars die of malnutrition with thousands of dollars hidden in their mattresses.
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I don’t need time. What I need is a deadline!
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People do not retire. They are retired by others.
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Create, and be true to yourself, and depend only on your own good taste.
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It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
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Tomorrow is in the wings waiting for you to sound her entrance fanfare.
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The Europeans who went to Africa came back with “modern’ art. What is more African than a Picasso?
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The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.
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What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?
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Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn’t do nothing.
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Somehow I suspect that if Shakespeare were alive today, he might be a jazz fan himself.
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Sing sweet, but put a little dirt in it.
DUKE ELLINGTON






