I 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.
DUKE ELLINGTONDancing is very important to people who play music with a beat. I think that people who don’t dance, or who never did dance, don’t really understand the beat. I know musicians who don’t and never did dance, and they have difficulty communicating.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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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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I don’t need time, I need a deadline.
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Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.
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A musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
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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.
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There is no art when one does something without intention.
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New music? Hell, there’s been no new music since Stravinsky.
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It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
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Jazz is a good barometer of freedom.
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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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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.
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The artist must say it without saying it.
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What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?
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People do not retire. They are retired by others.
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Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous, you don’t want it.
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