“They say a blind hog will find the acorn one day.”

My son is a hip-hop producer.

It’s amazing how much trouble you can get in when you don’t have anything else to do.

I was the most subtle person in the world.

The relationship with a producer and an artist is really special. It’s got to be love and respect, amazing mutual respect for each other, because that’s what makes a good record.

I’m a tremendous believer and supporter in hip-hop and rap.

Not one ounce of my self worth depends on your acceptance of me.

I chose the trombone because the trombone players in the marching band got to be up front with the majorettes (because of the slides) and I loved that!

Billy Strayhorn wrote Multicolored Blue. Billy to me is the boss of the arrangers.

You can study orchestration, you can study harmony and theory and everything else, but melodies come straight from God.

I learned real early why God gave us two ears and one mouth, because you’re supposed to listen twice as much as you talk.

Whenever a woman would come too close, I would cut her off. Part of that was vindictive – but that was totally subconscious.

When you’re over the hill, that’s when you pick up speed.

I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, “Ain’t that the truth.”

If I don’t have a mother, I’ll let music be my mother.

Imagine what a harmonious world it could be if every single person, both young and old shared a little of what he is good at doing.

All the jazz guys had interracial relationships, and even the ladies did. Over the years, interracial relationships have been a hip, almost defiant thing, a way of saying “Nobody can put a boundary around me.”

Who will you bring into battle? Who will blindly follow your lead? No questions asked, no hesitation. Have your back regardless, all doubts paid no heed.

My birth was a blessing. Sent to live and die on Earth; it’s a blessing. We each have a star; all you have to do is find it. Once you do, everyone sees it, you won’t be blinded.

She cannot Conquer your demons. But she can be the guiding light, which shines through the cracks of the darkest corners of your heart to blind them.

What a terrible era in which idiots govern the blind.

Beauty is a treat for yourself. Don’t blind it with your blindness.

Never become so involved with something that it blinds you. Never forget where you from; someone will remind you.

This is face blindness, but not really it. Among all the faces I see, I could only see yours.

I close my eyes and I see you. I open them, and I’m blind.