Everything I do is Mingus.

Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that's easy. What's hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.

I never heard my music played the way I heard it in my head.

I am Charles Mingus, half black man, not even white enough to pass for nothing but black. I am Charles Mingus, a famed jazzman, but not famed enough to make a living in this society.

I'm trying to play the truth of what I am. The reason it's difficult is because I'm changing all the time.

My music is evidence of my souls will to live.

If Charlie Parker were a Gunslinger, There'd be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats

Jazz music is a language of the emotions.

Making the complicated simple is true creativity.

Bach is how buildings got taller. It's how we got to the moon.

As our parents often say, share your God-given gifts and talents to help others

I've always kept my body in shape and I will continue to always keep my body in shape.

Poetry is about as much a 'criticism of life' as red-hot iron is a criticism of fire.

I need say no more, to prove that slavery is entirely unlike the servitude in the patriarchal families.

Who talks much, must talk in vain.

It's the melody within the heart that helps us to endure.

The rights of the individual are greatly prized in the developed world, but in many other regions they are considered a luxury reserved for the impossibly wealthy.

The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves.

Big Bang may not be the best looking and may not be the best dancers out there,but each member holds a distinct individuality as a weapon that allows them to perform freely