“Bebop didn’t have the humanity of Duke Ellington. It didn’t even have that recognizable thing. Bird and Diz were great, fantastic, challenging – but they weren’t sweet.”

Always look ahead, but never look back.

I don’t like to hear someone put down dixieland. Those people who say there’s no music but bop are just stupid; it shows how much they don’t know.

You know why I quit playing ballads? Cause I love playing ballads.

The way you change and help music is by tryin’ to invent new ways to play.

If you have to ask, you’ll never know.

Music is an addiction.

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

If you hit a wrong note, it’s the next note that you play that determines if it’s good or bad.

My ego only needs a good rhythm section.

Do not be afraid of errors. There are no errors.

Drummers – sometimes they play and they listen. And that little listen takes a speck away from the right tempo.

Don’t be afraid of mistakes – There are none.

White folks always think that you have to have a label on everything – you know what I mean?

People will go for anything they don’t understand if it’s got enough hype.

You can’t compete with Sweets’ sound and time feel. It’s impossible.

We’re not going to play the blues anymore. Let the white folks play the blues. They got ’em, so they can keep ’em.

The professional respects his craft. He does not consider himself superior to it. He recognizes the contributions of those who have gone before him. He apprentices himself to them.

You will always receive help within a second of a prayer. To recognize the help, you must see everything in your life from that second on as a part of the answer to your prayer.

Leading in a complex world means recognizing the simple things you can do to make things better.

To others, being wrong is a source of shame; to me, recognizing my mistakes is a source of pride.

A breakthrough occurs when you recognize, you are more energy than matter.

Equality is the public recognition, effectively expressed in institutions and manners, of the principle that an equal degree of attention is due to the needs of all human beings.

Recognize when your peak energy occurs during the day. Allocate the most difficult projects to that period. Work on easy projects at low-energy times

To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.