He sounded to me like he's supposed to be the savior of jazz. Sometimes people speak as though someone asked them a question. Well, no one asked him a question.

Anybody can play. The note is only 20 percent. The attitude of the motherfucker who plays it is 80 percent.

It's not the note you play that's the wrong note - it's the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong.

If somebody told me I only had an hour to live, I'd spend it choking a white man. I'd do it nice and slow.

It's not about standing still and becoming safe. If anybody wants to keep creating they have to be about change.

In music, silence is more important than sound.

I'm always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning... Every day I find something creative to do with my life.

Knowledge is freedom and ignorance is slavery

Do not fear mistakes. There are none.

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

If you sacrifice your art because of some woman, or some man, or for some color, or for some wealth, you can't be trusted.

The vitality [of] the Bible [is] exhibited in every generation . . .Its power to transform lives is its best apologetic.

Sorry! I didn't mean to say that, " I mumble into the pillow next to her head."Oh.""No! I mean, I meant what I said. I just didn't mean to tell you.

Sure you do. Everyone wants to play. They’re just afraid of looking stupid. But you know what’s stupid? Not trying. So just…try.

Eating disorders are like a gun that's formed by genetics, loaded by a culture and family ideals, and triggered by unbearable distress.

We are all creatures of habit. We can do most things without even thinking about them; our bodies take charge and do them for us.

He reveals that he has been a poor politician, a bad judge and a malevolent individual.

A poor believer [monetarily] certainly is looked down upon in certain churches, and yet he may be the richest man spiritually in that church.

Everything you should be an expression of your purpose. If an activity doesn't fit that formula, you wouldn't work on it. Period.

Maybe I’d like to be defined by what I am.

I had big dreams when I was a boy. And I can't say that I never saw a beach house in Malibu in those dreams.