I am interested in the study of music and the discipline of music and the experience of music and music as a esoteric mechanism to continue my real intentions.

Is jazz a rhythm, or is it a vibration?

Everybody in America is angry about something.

I have learned through time that not everyone is interested in the kinds of things that fascinate me.

The word music is a convenient way to talk about what I'm interested in, but actually, in some ways, it's a limitation.

I would find myself backing away from all of the 'isms,' all of the communities. I have always been able to be misused by every community But that is OK. I would rather be misused than neglected.

I thank the Creator of the universe to have discovered the discipline of music was the greatest gift that I could have been given, the possibility to be a student working in the world.

My work has been marginalized as far as the jazz-business complex is concerned, or the contemporary-music complex.

I am viewed as the Negro who has gone outside of the categories assigned to me.

I know I’m an African-American, and I know I play the saxophone, but I’m not a jazz musician. I’m not a classical musician, either. My music is like my life: It’s in between these areas.

So, yes, I am in the underground, but actually, it feels like home.

Misunderstandings arise only in undefined relationships

The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding.

It was one of the primary rules of thievery. When hiding, sneaking, and trickery are all out, the correct answer is "run like hell."

Heads of state are notoriously ill prepared for their mature careers; think of Adolf Hitler (landscape painter), Ho Chi Minh (seaman), and our own Ronald Reagan.

As a boy, I believed freedom for America meant freedom for me. There was a time I believed every word spoken.

I think cat's are fantastic.

I returned to Jerusalem, and it is by virtue of Jerusalem that I have written all that God has put into my heart and into my pen.

Not trying is the surest way of achieving nothing at all.

Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It's about accepting all of yourself.

Our agitation, you know, helps keep yours alive in the rank and file.