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I don’t deserve a Songwriters Hall of Fame Award. But fifteen years ago, I had a brain operation and I didn’t deserve that, either. So I’ll keep it.

Quincy Jones

I look back and say, “This must have been somebody else.” I am not going to tell you that when I was 4, I dreamed about all of this.
QUINCY JONES

Age Dreams Myself Past Time View
What happens when you get a big break and you haven’t prepared yourself? That becomes the biggest mistake you’ve ever made. I see it happen all the time.
QUINCY JONES

Break Mistake Preparation Time Yourself
China’s got a billion people and a hit record over there is a million records. You know that ain’t right.
QUINCY JONES

People Right Unfair Yourself
I was raised in Chicago and I guess that was one of the special breeding grounds for gangsters of all colors. That was the Detroit of the gangster world. The car industry was thugs.
QUINCY JONES

Ground Industry Myself Place
Music in movies is all about dissonance and consonance, tension and release.
QUINCY JONES

Movie Music Rhythm
Excellence isn’t an act, it’s a habit.
QUINCY JONES

Act Excellence Habit Myself
You can study orchestration, you can study harmony and theory and everything else, but melodies come straight from God.
QUINCY JONES

God Harmony Melody Music Study Yourself
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.
QUINCY JONES

Learning Listening Reality Talk Yourself
I found this out over the years, that racism is a thinly veiled disguise over economics and money. It really is.
QUINCY JONES

Economics Money Myself Racism
I was married for 36 years but now I’m free.
QUINCY JONES

Divorce Freedom Marriage Myself
Hell, nobody knows where jazz is going to go. There may be a kid right now in Chitlin Switch, Georgia, who is going to come along and upset everybody.
QUINCY JONES

Children Come Music Upset
If you started in New York you were dealing with the biggest guys in the world. You’re dealing with Charlie Parker and all the big bands and everything. We got more experience working in Seattle.
QUINCY JONES

Big Deal Experience Start World Yourself
I’ve met every freak in the business.
QUINCY JONES

Business Freak Myself
After every war, there was a significant change in the music, and I can understand how that happened. If you participate in protecting the country, you think you can be part of it, but you come back home and it’s worse than ever.
QUINCY JONES

Change Music Thinking Understand War Worst Yourself
I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, “Ain’t that the truth.”
QUINCY JONES

Laughter Loud Myself Truth
My dream is to put together a performance of the evolution of black music with Cirque du Soleil . I would also like to do street opera and children’s books. But even as I work toward these things, I want to simplify my life.
QUINCY JONES

Book Children Dreams Music Myself Performance Simplicity Togetherness

I don’t deserve a Songwriters Hall of Fame Award. But fifteen years ago, I had a brain operation and I didn’t deserve that, either. So I’ll keep it.

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I don’t deserve a Songwriters Hall of Fame Award. But fifteen years ago, I had a brain operation and I didn’t deserve that, either. So I’ll keep it.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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