A goal is a dream with a finish line.
DUKE ELLINGTONYou have to stop listening in categories. The music is either good or it’s bad.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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Simplicity is a most complex form.
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I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
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The artist must say it without saying it.
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Gray skies are just clouds passing over.
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My biggest kick in music -playing or writing- is when I have a problem. Without a problem to solve, how much interest do you take in anything?
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There is no art when one does something without intention.
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Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.
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It’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
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New music? Hell, there’s been no new music since Stravinsky.
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Playing ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
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There are 2 rules in life: Number 1- Never quit. Number2- Never forget rule number 1.
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Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn’t do nothing.
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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.
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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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Selfishness can be a virtue. Selfishness is essential to survival, and without survival we cannot protect those whom we love more than ourselves.
DUKE ELLINGTON