black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

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.

Duke Ellington

What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?
DUKE ELLINGTON

Important Meaning Music Yourself
Simplicity is a most complex form.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Complex Form Simplicity
I like any and all of my associations with music: writing, playing, and listening. We write and play from our perspective, and the audience listens from its perspective. If and when we agree, I am lucky.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Association Audience Listening Music Perspective Play
Jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter of thoughtful creation, not mere unaided instinct.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Creation Instinct Past Thinking
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.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Blessing Human Inheritance Mom Myself Royalty
There are 2 rules in life: Number 1- Never quit. Number2- Never forget rule number 1.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Forget Inspirational Life Rule
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.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Evidence Love Myself Yourself
I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Blue Energy Myself Writing
Critics have their purposes, and they’re supposed to do what they do, but sometimes they get a little carried away with what they think someone should have done, rather than concerning themselves with what they did.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Carry Criticism Focus Purpose Thinking
A musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Financial Loss Musical Profit
The artist must say it without saying it.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Artist Language
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.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Epitome Music Original Standard
People do not retire. They are retired by others.
DUKE ELLINGTON

People Retirement
Every man prays in his own language.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Himself Language Man Prayer
There is no art without intention.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Art Creation Creativity Intention One Liner
It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Meaning Yourself

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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Duke Ellington Quotes