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Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.

Duke Ellington

It’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Act Commitment Murder Play Yourself
The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Knowledge Master Musician
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
The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Himself Important Known Listening Musician
There is no art when one does something without intention.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Art Intention
Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Limitation Love
A musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Financial Loss Musical Profit
Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Famous Fate Kindness Myself Young
I don’t need time, I need a deadline.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Limitation Myself Time
Jazz is a good barometer of freedom.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Freedom Goodness Measurement
The problem of expressing the contributions that Benny Carter has made to popular music is so tremendous it completely fazes me, so extraordinary a musician is he.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Contribution Expression Music Myself Problem
I 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.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Appearance Interest Myself Realize Right
Yet, every time God’s children have thrown away fear in pursuit of honesty-trying to communicate themselves, understood or not, miracles have happened.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Children Communication God Honesty Miracle Time
I don’t believe in categories of any kind, and when you speak of problems between blacks and whites in the U.S.A. you are referring to categories again.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Believe Black Kind White Yourself
Create, and be true to yourself, and depend only on your own good taste.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Creation Goodness Taste True
You have to stop listening in categories. The music is either good or it’s bad.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Bad Category Goodness Listening Stop

Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.

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Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.

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