I had the first integrated Army band in World War II.

Jazz stands for freedom. It's supposed to be the voice of freedom: Get out there and improvise, and take chances, and don't be a perfectionist - leave that to the classical musicians.

Jazz is about the only form of art existing today in which there is freedom of the individual without the loss of group contact.

Damn it, when I'm bombastic, I have my reasons. I want to be bombastic-take it or leave it.

Kinship doesn't come from skin color. It's in your soul and your mind.

It's like a whole orchestra, the piano for me.

The secret of a great melody is a secret.

I'm always hoping for the nights that are inspired where you almost have an out of body experience

Jazz is about freedom within discipline.

Don't be a perfectionist... leave that to the classical musicians.

We don't know the power that's within our own bodies

Some people need a red carpet rolled out in front of them in order to walk forward into friendship. They can't see the tiny outstretched hands all around them, everywhere, like leaves on trees.

Ian was the kind of smart that makes your straight A student look like she’d drown in a wet paper bag. Ian was the kind of smart that scares people.

Even a thousand loud lies become powerless in front of one calm truth.

In the corrupted currents of this worldOffence's gilded hand may shove by justice, And oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itselfBuys out the law. . . (Claudius, from Hamlet, Act 3, scene 3)

I respect the Congress's oversight responsibility.

I want a big church wedding.

Propaganda was an important arm of the Soviet diplomacy, very important.

In every domain of art, a work that corresponds to the need of its day carries a message of social and cultural value. It is the artist who crystallizes his age ... who fixes his time in history.

I am thrilled and honored to have a seat at the table for meaningful conversation with so many accomplished women in the sports world.

The fist of a revolutionist must be hard like a gravestone; if not, his own gravestone will soon be erected!