black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

I’m sorry that I did not become the world’s first black classic pianist. I think I would have been happier.

Nina Simone

Jazz is not just music, it’s a way of life, it’s a way of being, a way of thinking.
NINA SIMONE

Life Music Thinking Way
Music is an art and art has its own rules.
NINA SIMONE

Art Music Rule
I was not reluctant to become a singer. Singing has been an activity I’ve done my whole life, without thought.
NINA SIMONE

Activity Life Myself Singer
I demand perfection in what I do, and I practice very hard before I give a concert-sometimes three to six hours a day.
NINA SIMONE

Day Demand Myself Perfection Practice
Birds flying high you know how I feel Sun in the sky you know how I feel Breeze driftin’ on by you know how I feel And this old world is a new world And a bold world For me And I’m feeling good I’m feeling good.
NINA SIMONE

Fly Myself Old Sun World
I think the rich are too rich and the poor are too poor. I don’t think the black people are going to rise at all; I think most of them are going to die.
NINA SIMONE

Death Poor Rich Rise Thinking
My job is not done. I address my songs now to the third world. I am popular all over Asia and Africa and the Middle East, not to speak of South Africa, where I’m trying to go to see Nelson Mandela.
NINA SIMONE

Address Job Myself Popular See Song
It is difficult to retain your standards with the pressure of trying to make money, which always has its rules. It’s hard to walk the tightrope of doing what you think is your best and making money at it.
NINA SIMONE

Difficult Hard Money Rule Standard Yourself
Music has been a burden and a joy for as long as I can remember.
NINA SIMONE

Burden Joy Music Myself Remember
It’s time to take a look at my failures and stop calling them successes. Now I can start working at something that can use me best.
NINA SIMONE

Failure Start Success Time Work
My singing, if you want to call it that is merely another medium of expression. Just an instrument I play. That’s how I see my voice.
NINA SIMONE

Call Expression Instrument Myself See Singing Voice
Slavery has never been abolished from America’s way of thinking.
NINA SIMONE

Abolish Slave Thinking Way
From the beginning, it has been a no-no for a black man to touch a white woman.
NINA SIMONE

Beginning Black Woman
How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it.
NINA SIMONE

Explanation Expression Feeling Poetry Soul Stage Yourself
Music is one of the ways by which you can know everything which is going on in the world. You can feel through music. Whew you can feel the vibrations of everybody in the world at any given moment.
NINA SIMONE

Feeling Moments Music Vibration World Yourself
Many times I feel different like a different person.
NINA SIMONE

Different Feeling Person Time

I’m sorry that I did not become the world’s first black classic pianist. I think I would have been happier.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

I’m sorry that I did not become the world’s first black classic pianist. I think I would have been happier.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Nina Simone Quotes