“I’m not messing around with nobody’s woman. If I want a woman I go get her – you know what I mean?”

You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians.

I ain’t no entertainer, and ain’t trying to be one. I am one thing, a musician.

All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal.

Always look ahead, but never look back.

I don’t like to hear someone put down dixieland. Those people who say there’s no music but bop are just stupid; it shows how much they don’t know.

You know why I quit playing ballads? Cause I love playing ballads.

The way you change and help music is by tryin’ to invent new ways to play.

If you have to ask, you’ll never know.

Music is an addiction.

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

If you hit a wrong note, it’s the next note that you play that determines if it’s good or bad.

My ego only needs a good rhythm section.

Do not be afraid of errors. There are no errors.

Drummers – sometimes they play and they listen. And that little listen takes a speck away from the right tempo.

Don’t be afraid of mistakes – There are none.

White folks always think that you have to have a label on everything – you know what I mean?

My movies are always being played on television, I’m very well known and all that stuff.

To know that one does not write for the other, to know that these things I am going to write will never cause me to be loved by the one I love (the other), to know that writing compensates for nothing, sublimates nothing, that it is precisely there where you are not–this is the beginning of writing.

I’m known for being an up, high-energy, and optimistic kind of guy.

After a slow buildup, people become convinced that they have known about the brand forever.

The reason is obvious. A well-known name got well-known because it stood for something. It occupies a position in the prospect’s mind. A really well-known name sits on the top rung of a sharply defined ladder.

Don’t give up. There are lessons to be learned even in the most horrendous pain. And you don’t know that when you’re young.

If you want to build a brand, you must focus your branding efforts on owning a word in the prospect’s mind. A word that nobody else owns.

I’ve never done anything else in my life other than preach and be an activist. Way before I was known.