Duke Ellington Quotes

"A problem is a chance for you to do your best."

"Playing "bop" is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing."

"Roaming through the jungle of "oohs" and "ahs," searching for a more agreeable noise, I live a life of primitivity with the mind of a child and an unquenchable thirst for sharps and flats."

"Now I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees."

"Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young."

"Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous you don't want it."

"My attitude is never to be satisfied, never enough, never."

"There is hardly any money interest in art, and music will be there when money is gone."

"By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn't want your daughter to associate with."

"It's like an act of murder; you play with intent to commit something."

"A man is a god in ruins."

"Critics have their purposes, and they're supposed to do what they do, but sometimes they get a little carried away with what they think someone should have done, rather than concerning themselves with what they did."

"You've got to find some way of saying it without saying it."

"Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited."

"The wise musicians are those who play what they can master."

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues."