Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.
DUKE ELLINGTONI 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.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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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 are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind the only yardstick by which the result should be judged is simply that of how it sounds. If it sounds good it’s successful; if it doesn’t it has failed.
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Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.
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Create, and be true to yourself, and depend only on your own good taste.
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It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
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By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.
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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.
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People do not retire. They are retired by others.
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There are two kinds of worries – those you can do something about and those you can’t. Don’t spend any time on the latter.
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Playing ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
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What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?
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Selfishness can be a virtue. Selfishness is essential to survival, and without survival we cannot protect those whom we love more than ourselves.
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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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The Europeans who went to Africa came back with “modern’ art. What is more African than a Picasso?
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If you have a great band with a mediocre drummer, you have a mediocre band. If you have a mediocre band with a great drummer, you have a great band!
DUKE ELLINGTON