All the classic jazz players all sang and a lot of 'em sang blues.

I went through the whole number, you know. The swing era, the boogie woogie era, the bebop era. Thelonious Monk is still one of my favorites. So a lot of these people had their effect on me.

Everybody cryin' mercy / When they don't know the meaning of the word.

The things that really matter don't mix with idle chatter.

Ever since the world ended, I don't go out as much

I have no idea what I'm doin'. I've never seen me.

I been getting good crowds. It only took 50 years.

I'm playin' music for a certain type of person. Fortunately, there are more and more of us. At least there are more comin' to see me than there were 30 years ago or so.

As far as I'm concerned, the essentials of jazz are: melodic improvisation, melodic invention, swing, and instrumental personality.

I never sit down and write. I just sorta let things form in my brain.

I haven't stopped and I don't plan on stoppin' any time soon.

Politics divides a nation, instead of bringing its people together.

Our past sins, our fractured lives--soon nothing but drowned stars in dark skies.

If ignorance is bliss, there should be more happy people.

So much saintlike patience cannot be good for anyone.

Love burdens itself with the wants and woes and losses and even the wrongs of others.

If Carter had been there when the AIDS crisis came up, it would have been a whole different story. It could have been treated like a legitimate disease.

I've done everything I've done in America with the limitations I have.

I started getting orders from some of the leading stores Fred Segal, Bergdorf Goodman. I realized then that my bags were being noticed by the fashion world.

I learned a long time ago that fame and money is not a ticket to happiness.

Persistent questioning and healthy inquisitiveness are the first requisite for acquiring learning of any kind.