black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

I think if I were over there in America, protest music would be more important. But I’m not going.

Nina Simone

Talent is a burden not a joy. I am not of this planet. I do not come from you. I am not like you.
NINA SIMONE

Burden Myself Planet Talent
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
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
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.
NINA SIMONE

Dare Order Question Symbol Wrong
Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.
NINA SIMONE

Black Definition Myself People
I think if I were over there in America, protest music would be more important. But I’m not going.
NINA SIMONE

Important Music Myself Thinking
There’s no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.
NINA SIMONE

Excuse Hero Known People Young
Since I was three I’ve been playing the piano. I’ve been onstage.
NINA SIMONE

Instrument Myself Play
From the beginning, it has been a no-no for a black man to touch a white woman.
NINA SIMONE

Beginning Black Woman
I look forward to doing my own show, not someone else’s. That’s always been my dream.
NINA SIMONE

Dreams Myself Show
Music is a gift and a burden I’ve had since I can remember who I was.
NINA SIMONE

Burden Gift Music Myself Remember
The allusion was that I was actually naked. I loved that. It always, kind of shocked people enough that they became mine immediately.
NINA SIMONE

Kind Love Myself Naked People
Desegregation is a joke.
NINA SIMONE

Joke Segregation
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.
NINA SIMONE

Classics Love Master Myself
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.
NINA SIMONE

Love Man Myself Pay Rich Sea Water
Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.
NINA SIMONE

Breathe Children Life Music Myself

I think if I were over there in America, protest music would be more important. But I’m not going.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

I think if I were over there in America, protest music would be more important. But I’m not going.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Nina Simone Quotes