All a musician can do is to get closer to the source.
JOHN COLTRANEWorking with Monk is like falling down a dark elevator shaft.
More John Coltrane Quotes
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My goal is to live the truly religious life, and express it in my music. If you live it, when you play there’s no problem because the music is part of the whole thing. To be a musician is really something. It goes very, very deep. My music is the spiritual expression of what I am – my faith, my knowledge, my being.
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When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people.
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I’ve always felt that even though a man was not a Christian, he still has to know the truth some way or another. Or if he was a Christian, he could know the truth. The truth itself doesn’t have any name on it to me. And each man has to find this for himself, I think.
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All of the technique doesn’t matter only if the feeling is right.
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Sometimes I think I was making music through the wrong end of a magnifying glass.
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You can play a shoestring if you’re sincere.
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Considering the great heritage in music that we have – the work of the giants of the past, the present, and the promise of those who are to come – I feel that we have every reason to face the future optimistically.
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The main thing a musician would like to do is to give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things he knows of and senses in the universe.
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I think the majority of musicians are interested in truth.
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Damn the rules, it’s the feeling that counts.
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I believe that men are here to grow themselves into the best good that they can be – at least, this is what I want to do.
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The reason I play so many sounds, maybe it sounds angry, is because I’m trying so many things at one time, you see? I haven’t sorted them out. I have a whole bag of things that I’m trying to work through and get the one essential.
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The real risk is not changing. I have to feel that I’m after something. If I make money, fine. But I’d rather be striving. It’s the striving, man, it’s that I want.
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Any time you play your horn, it helps you. If you get down, you can help yourself even in a rock ‘n’ roll band.
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I want to be a force for real good. In other words, I know there are bad forces. You know, I know that there are forces out here that bring suffering to others and misery to the world, but I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good.
JOHN COLTRANE