I never had much interest in the piano until I realized that every time I played, a girl would appear on the piano bench to my left and another to my right.
DUKE ELLINGTONI don’t believe in categories of any kind, and when you speak of problems between blacks and whites in the U.S.A. you are referring to categories again.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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On becoming more acquainted with the word of the Bible, I began to understand so much more of what I had been taught, and of what I had learned about life and about the people in mine.
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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.
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There is nothing to keeping a band together. You simply have to have a gimmick, and the gimmick I use is to pay them money!
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A problem is a chance for you to do your best.
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The artist must say it without saying it.
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There are 2 rules in life: Number 1- Never quit. Number2- Never forget rule number 1.
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Problems are chances for us to do our best.
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Now I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees.
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My biggest kick in music -playing or writing- is when I have a problem. Without a problem to solve, how much interest do you take in anything?
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Selfishness can be a virtue. Selfishness is essential to survival, and without survival we cannot protect those whom we love more than ourselves.
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I don’t need time, I need a deadline.
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Yet, every time God’s children have thrown away fear in pursuit of honesty-trying to communicate themselves, understood or not, miracles have happened.
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Music is the tonal reflection of beauty.
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Create, and be true to yourself, and depend only on your own good taste.
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You’ve got to find a way of saying it without saying it.
DUKE ELLINGTON