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 ELLINGTONThere are 2 rules in life: Number 1- Never quit. Number2- Never forget rule number 1.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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Now I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees.
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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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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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Jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter of thoughtful creation, not mere unaided instinct.
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New York is a place where the rich walk, the poor drive Cadillacs, and beggars die of malnutrition with thousands of dollars hidden in their mattresses.
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A musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
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Jazz is a good barometer of freedom.
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Dancing is very important to people who play music with a beat. I think that people who don’t dance, or who never did dance, don’t really understand the beat. I know musicians who don’t and never did dance, and they have difficulty communicating.
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Sing sweet, but put a little dirt in it.
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I’m sure critics have their purpose, 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 he did.
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New music? Hell, there’s been no new music since Stravinsky.
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There are 2 rules in life: Number 1- Never quit. Number2- Never forget rule number 1.
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There is nothing to keeping a band together. You simply have to have a gimmick, and the gimmick I use is to pay them money!
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Simplicity is a most complex form.
DUKE ELLINGTON