I, of course, wanted to play real jazz. When we played pop tunes, and naturally we had to, I wanted those pops to kick! Not loud and fast, understand, but smoothly and with a definite punch.

Of course, there are a lot of ways you can treat the blues, but it will still be the blues.

Learn to deal with the valleys and the hills will take care of themselves.

It's the way you play that makes it . . . Play like you play. Play like you think, and then you got it, if you're going to get it. And whatever you get, that's you, so that's your story.

If you play a tune and a person don't tap their feet, don't play the tune.

The real innovators did their innovating by just being themselves.

If you find a note tonight that sounds good, play the same damn note every night!

I was always willing to say, "Let's see what happens," when something came up that looked like it might help me get a little closer to where I wanted to be . . .

Keep on listening & tapping your feet.

I think the band can really swing when it swings easy, when it can just play along like you are cutting butter.

All I wanted was to be big, to be in show business and to travel ... and that's what I've been doing all my life.

Some people only hate you because of the way other people love you.

You can know an animal - or a person, for that matter - in an instant, really, though your understanding can go on unfolding for years.

The externals are simply so many props everything we need is within us.

As our acts vary, our habits will follow in their course.

A priori Logical propositions are such as can be known a priori without study of the actual world.

I'm willing to take the blame if the strip goes down the drain, and I want the credit if it succeeds. So long as it has my name on it, I want it to be mine.

No matter how beautiful the outside may be, the inside still has feelings and needs that just words don't fulfill.

A coincidence is a trend we have decided not to take seriously.

Tell the people what they want and decide what they need.

People who speak up for freedom in regimes that are repressive are often at threat.