I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about… Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.
NINA SIMONEJazz is not just music, it’s a way of life, it’s a way of being, a way of thinking the new inventive phrases we make up to describe things – all that to me is jazz just as much as the music we play.
More Nina Simone Quotes
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I’m sorry that I did not become the world’s first black classic pianist. I think I would have been happier.
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We have ordered things so long in a certain way, we are numb. Nobody dares question it. This is what is wrong, symbolically, with America.
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I play piano, by ear. Yes, I write songs and good ones.
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I think if I were over there in America, protest music would be more important. But I’m not going.
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I would like a man now who is rich, and who can give me a boat – a sailboat. I want to own it and let him pay for it. My first love is the sea and water, not music. Music is second.
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I don’t like to go to strange places. I was in Italy for about five hours on my way to Africa.
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What is love but a prelude to sorrow with heartache ahead for your goal.
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I try to swim every damn day I can, and I’ve learned to scuba dive and snorkel.
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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.
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Theory and harmony broadened my mind in music. I know what music is made of.
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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.
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I believe in racial memory too. I’m sure I’ve got ancient African blood in me that has something to do with what I am.
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Music has been a burden and a joy for as long as I can remember.
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The allusion was that I was actually naked. I loved that. It always, kind of shocked people enough that they became mine immediately.
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I’m just human, I have faults like anyone.
NINA SIMONE






