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 ELLINGTONFate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.
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I fluffed off the guy who kept requesting tunes all night, then found out he was the King’s son.
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A musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
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A goal is a dream with a finish line.
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People do not retire. They are retired by others.
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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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Gray skies are just clouds passing over.
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I don’t need time. What I need is a deadline!
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A problem is a chance for you to do your best.
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Jazz is a good barometer of freedom.
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You have to stop listening in categories. The music is either good or it’s bad.
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Problems are chances for us to do our best.
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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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If anybody was Mr. Jazz it was Louis Armstrong. He was the epitome of jazz and always will be. He is what I call an American standard, an American original.
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Music is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one.
DUKE ELLINGTON