Jazz is a good barometer of freedom.

There are 2 rules in life: Number 1- Never quit Number2- Never forget rule number 1.

Music, of course, is what I hear and something that I more or less live by. It's not an occupation or profession, it's a compulsion.

A problem is a chance for you to do your best.

There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.

The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.

If you have a great band with a mediocre drummer, you have a mediocre band. If you have a mediocre band with a great drummer, you have a great band!

Everyone prays in their own language, and there is no language that God does not understand.

You have to stop listening in categories. The music is either good or it's bad.

I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.

Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.

Solitude is the greatest treasure and through it, you can rebuild your life, reorder your life and solve life’s problems.

I reckon it’s true what they say that good begets good and bad begets bad. The evil men do lives on after them, but what good they done gets buried with their bones.

And be content with such things as ye have.

The love which moves the world, according to common Christian belief, is God's love and the love of God.

I used to think that my mother got into arguments with people because they didn't understand her English, because she was Chinese.

I had nothing growing up, but I always wanted to be 'sexy,' even before I knew what the word was.

A closed mind is a dying mind.

For me my work is always being compared to my heritage. It has been quite a challenge unto itself just to drop into my voice and develop my individuated sound.

Everyone has flaws. It's a matter of finding the ones you can live with.

If a sheep dies on the shore of the Euphrates I fear lest Allah ask me to account for it on the Day of Resurrection.