Music is an art and art has its own rules.
NINA SIMONEThe allusion was that I was actually naked. I loved that. It always, kind of shocked people enough that they became mine immediately.
More Nina Simone Quotes
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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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How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?
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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.
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The worst thing about that kind of prejudice is that while you feel hurt and angry and all the rest of it, it feeds you self-doubt. You start thinking, perhaps I am not good enough.
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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 love the classics but there are many new ideas to be made into reality. I’d rather be concerned with my own thing. There are many masters of classical piano so I’ll leave it to them.
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Theory and harmony broadened my mind in music. I know what music is made of.
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I made wine from the lilac tree/Put my heart in its recipe/It makes me see what I want to see/And be what I want to be.
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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.
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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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I’m just human, I have faults like anyone.
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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.
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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 feel what they feel. And people who listen to me know that, and it makes them feel like they’re not alone.
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From the beginning, it has been a no-no for a black man to touch a white woman.
NINA SIMONE