My mother told me I was blessed, and I have always taken her word for it. Being born of – or reincarnated from – royalty is nothing Like being blessed. Royalty is inherited from another human being; blessedness comes from God.
DUKE ELLINGTONBilly Strayhorn was my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head, and his in mine.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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Love is indescribable and unconditional. I could tell you a thousand things that it is not, but not one that it is. Either you have it or you haven’t; there’s no proof of it.
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Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.
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I don’t need time, I need a deadline.
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Simplicity is a most complex form.
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People do not retire. They are retired by others.
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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!
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Tomorrow is in the wings waiting for you to sound her entrance fanfare.
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It’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
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Create, and be true to yourself, and depend only on your own good taste.
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Jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter of thoughtful creation, not mere unaided instinct.
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You’ve got to find a way of saying it without saying it.
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The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.
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A Satin Doll is a woman who is as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside.
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Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.
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Of the One O’Clock Lab Band after hearing their performance, and sitting in with them at the White House: “I wish it were mine”.
DUKE ELLINGTON