I’m a real rebel with a cause.
NINA SIMONEThere’s no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.
More Nina Simone Quotes
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You’ve got to learn to leave the table When love’s no longer being served”.
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From the beginning, it has been a no-no for a black man to touch a white woman.
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It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day and I’m feeling good.
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I play piano, by ear. Yes, I write songs and good ones.
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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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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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To most white people, jazz means black and jazz means dirt, and that’s not what I play. I play black classical music.
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Music is an art and art has its own rules.
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Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.
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If I get an idea I put it on tape and somebody else writes it out.
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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 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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Since I was three I’ve been playing the piano. I’ve been onstage.
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You can’t help it. An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.
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I tell you what freedom is to me: no fear.
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You can’t be different if you look at it. Being gifted is different. I had that in my piano playing. I’m very thankful for that. I’m very aware of that. The style and what I fed is just me. I never worked at it. It just happened.
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Desegregation is a joke.
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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 -
This is the world you have made yourself, now you have to live in it.
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Through music you can become sad, joyful, loving, you can learn. You can learn mathematics, touch, pacing Oh my God! Ooh Wow You can see colors through music. Anything!
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Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.
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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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Once I understood Bach’s music, I wanted to be a concert pianist. Bach made me dedicate my life to music, and it was that teacher who introduced me to his world.
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You don’t have to live next to me / Just give me my equality.
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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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Music has been a burden and a joy for as long as I can remember.
NINA SIMONE