What I really have in my head, my imagination, my understanding of music, I never really get that out.

Jazz is not just 'Well, man, this is what I feel like playing.' It's a very structured thing that comes down from a tradition and requires a lot of thought and study.

it ain't as hard as picking cotton

Jazz is democracy in music.

We looked up to our father. He still is much greater than us.

The blues. It runs through all American music. Somebody bending the note. The other is the two-beat groove. It's in New Orleans music, it's in jazz, it's in country music, it's in gospel.

Many a revolution started with the actions of a few. Only 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence. A few hanging together can lead a nation to change.

I believed in studying just because I knew education was a privilege. It was the discipline of study, to get into the habit of doing something that you don't want to do.

Through first-class education, a generation marches down the long uncertain road of the future with confidence.

There are forces all around you who wish to exploit division, rob you of your freedom, and tell you what to think. But young folks can rekindle the weary spirit of a slumbering nation.

This was the start of a period that blurs as I try to recall it. Incidents seem to cascade and merge. Events become feelings, fellings become events. Head and heart are contrary historians.

Thank God for the grace to work.

Adding little amounts over time makes a huge difference

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

Great faith it needs, according to my view, To trust in that which never could be true.

I've given no thought to moving to America at all.

That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of the time.

Putting our expectations on others is a habit that keeps us feeling frustrated. It diminishes the amount of love we feel.

Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it.

A failure teaches you that something can't be done-that way.