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.

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

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.

It would take a while before the postmodern Narcissus perceived the ruins of society behind the emptiness of his mirror.

Men seek but one thing in life - their pleasure.

Memories are like mulligatawny soup in a cheap restaurant. It is best not to stir them.

I like the idea of knowing that somebody somewhere made a difference so that your life could be better.

Help someone in distress and you lighten your own burden; the very joy of alleviating the sorrow of another is the lessening of one's own.

Comics don't usually have very long careers, and I'm 22 years into this.

All whom war, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies, Despair, law, chance, hath slain.

Skills rest in your mind not in the props you make use of.

The civil justice system is a backup system when the criminal justice system fails.

Time is a very bankrupt and owes more than he's worth to season. Nay, he's a thief too: have you not heard men say, That Time comes stealing on by night and day?