It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
DUKE ELLINGTONJazz is a good barometer of freedom.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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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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Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous, you don’t want it.
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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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It’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
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If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!
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Music is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one.
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People do not retire. They are retired by others.
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Self-discipline, as a virtue or an acquired asset, can be invaluable to anyone.
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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 is no art when one does something without intention.
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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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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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Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.
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Every man prays in his own language.
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A musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
DUKE ELLINGTON