I'm always storing away phrases and ideas and things that I think might turn into songs.

I went through the whole number, you know. The swing era, the boogie woogie era, the bebop era. Thelonious Monk is still one of my favorites. So a lot of these people had their effect on me.

All the classic jazz players all sang and a lot of 'em sang blues.

Everybody cryin' mercy / When they don't know the meaning of the word.

The things that really matter don't mix with idle chatter.

Ever since the world ended, I don't go out as much

I have no idea what I'm doin'. I've never seen me.

I been getting good crowds. It only took 50 years.

I'm playin' music for a certain type of person. Fortunately, there are more and more of us. At least there are more comin' to see me than there were 30 years ago or so.

As far as I'm concerned, the essentials of jazz are: melodic improvisation, melodic invention, swing, and instrumental personality.

I never sit down and write. I just sorta let things form in my brain.

There is no sin in the realm of taste.

Work for what you want, pray for what you need and fight for what you've always dreamt about.

Male sexual response is far brisker and more automatic. It is triggered easily by things - like putting a quarter in a vending machine.

Kobe Bryant is the most talented player in the game today; he could do anything.

Beckham? His wife can't sing and his barber can't cut hair.

Objectivity is the subject subjugating the object. That is how you assert yourself. You make yourself the active voice and the object is the passive no-voice.

The more you use your mind, the more you'll have to use.

Neither refinement nor delicacy is indispensable to produce elegance.

Only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions.

It is still beautiful to hear the heart beat but often the shadow seems more real than the body.