Nina Simone Quotes
What kept me sane was knowing that things would change, and it was a question of keeping myself together until they did.
Life is short. People are not easy to know. They're not easy to know, so if you don't tell them how you feel, you're not going to get anywhere, I feel.
Talent is a burden not a joy. I am not of this planet. I do not come from you. I am not like you.
How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it
There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.
The worst thing about that kind of prejudice... is that while you feel hurt and angry and all the rest of it, it feeds you self-doubt. You start thinking, perhaps I am not good enough.
I made wine from the lilac tree/Put my heart in its recipe/It makes me see what I want to see/And be what I want to be
I was always a politician from the day the civil rights people chose me as their protest singer.
I feel what they feel. And people who listen to me know that, and it makes them feel like they're not alone.
We have ordered things so long in a certain way, we are numb. Nobody dares question it. This is what is wrong, symbolically, with America.
I feel more alive now than I ever have in my life. I have a chance to live, as I've dreamed.
It doesn't matter to me what is going on today because my music encompasses every kind of mood that exists in human beings. That's my stick.
It's logical that people from bad times will reflect their feelings in their communication. Music is part of the communication. If you lived it, you can do it.
I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," a song that was written for Simone, she confronted the band's lead singer, Eric Burdon. "So you're the honky," she said, "who stole my song and got a hit out of it?
It's time to take a look at my failures and stop calling them successes. Now I can start working at something that can use me best.
Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.
I believe in racial memory too. I'm sure I've got ancient African blood in me that has something to do with what I am.
Once I understood Bach's music, I wanted to be a concert pianist. Bach made me dedicate my life to music, and it was that teacher who introduced me to his world.
I think the rich will eventually have to cave in too, because the economic situation around the world is not gonna tolerate the United States being on top forever.
Through music you can become sad, joyful, loving, you can learn. You can learn mathematics, touch, pacing... Oh my God! Ooh... Wow... You can see colors through music. Anything!
I think the rich are too rich and the poor are too poor. I don't think the black people are going to rise at all; I think most of them are going to die.
Every day has its emotional difficulties. I miss my mother whether I'm singing her music or not.
I'm sorry that I did not become the world's first black classic pianist. I think I would have been happier.
My singing, if you want to call it that is merely another medium of expression. Just an instrument I play. That's how I see my voice.
I am particular about the seating of the audience - also about how much money they pay - but most of all where they are seated. If I am going to sing something intimate, who am I going to sing it to?
I demand perfection in what I do, and I practice very hard before I give a concert-sometimes three to six hours a day.
To most white people, jazz means black and jazz means dirt, and that's not what I play. I play black classical music.
Greed has driven the world crazy. And I think I'm lucky that I have a place over here that I can call home.
