Charlie Christian showed me a lot, and was a great help, but even then, I realised that if I was going to make it, it was no use copying Charlie

When I joined the trio, it was as if I was capable of driving a sports car at 60, but Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson just kept pressing the pedal down, and I was trying to control the car at 80!

Playing scales is like a boxer skipping rope or punching a bag. It's not the thing in itself; it's preparatory to the activity

Charlie Christians' contributions to the electric guitar are as big as Thomas Edisons' contributions to the world.

I'm not interested in a marketable product: I'm interested in what I know from my life experience to be standards of excellence

he signed his work .. you could always tell when it was Herb Ellis playing

Sooner I realized, he doesn't need to be big to be brave, because bravery is the courage found in the heart...

All great men endure tribulations, to achieve their goals.

My favorite kind of humor is basically, if it was happening to you, it wouldn't be funny, but to observe it, it's hilarious.

I think politics is extremely funny in and of itself.

I write a lot of environmental stories.

The world will tolerate many vices, but not their diminutives.

We left Germany when I was 11.

In any survival situation, you need to weigh the risk and the reward.

I would love to work with Tim Burton. I think we would be very good together.

If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there