If I were to call it black music, that would be untrue. I don't know what that is, unless it would be some African drums or something.

When you know the lyrics to a tune, you have some kind of insight as to it's composition.

I hope we left you with something to put under your pillows.

Jazz to me is a living music. It's a music that since its beginning has expressed the feelings, the dreams, hopes, of the people.

Jazz is a beautiful word. I love it.

What I'm doing, I prefer to call that jazz, because it is a beautiful word - I love it.

Bebop is the music of the future (as soon as they learn how to play it).

In nuclear war, all men are cremated equal.

Jazz is an octopus. It will take whatever it can use and it will work with it.

If you can't play the Blues you might as well hang it up.

Music is a reservoir... of sounds.

People struggling with life in a fallen world often want explanations when what they really need is imagination.

We'd been so ... clueless that being in heat is not, by a long shot, the same as being in love, or that being in love is not, by a long shot, the same as loving.

The basic difference between being assertive and being aggressive is how our words and behavior affect the rights and well-being of others.

Worry is spiritual short sight. Its cure is intelligent faith.

I am a very lucky guy. I can testify before Congress. I can raise funds. I can raise awareness.

Clara," he says, my name sounding different somehow when it passes through his lips. "I'll miss you.

Democrats in the contrast with Republicans, almost no matter which Republican is nominated. Because they are taking such similar positions.

Racial understanding is not something we find, but something that we must create. Through education, we seek to change attitudes.

How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?

People have a lot of different beliefs, and at the end of the day, we all have deeply held beliefs that probably don't make sense to anyone else.