Man, as long as people want to hear Jazz, I'll give it to them.

Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.

Seemed to me that drumming was the best way to get close to God.

Playing is my way of thinking, talking, communicating.

All art is communication of the artists' ideas, sounds, thoughts; without that no one will support the artist.

Every day I look forward to getting with my instruments, trying new things.

I'm motivated. The spirit hits me and I just keep going and don't stop. The more I play, the more I can invent, the more ideas come to me.

It's always Jazz. You can put a new dress on her, a new hat, but no matter what kind of clothes she's the same old broad.

Playing gives me as much good feeling now as it did when I was a bitty kid.

Music was our wife and we loved her. We stayed with her, clothed her and put diamond rings on her hands.

I always figured I'd still be playing at this age.

It is the useless things that make life worth living and that make life dangerous too: wine, love, art, beauty. Without them life is safe, but not worth bothering with.

When something looks impossible, don’t give up without testing its impossibility

Whether you try too hard to fit in or you try too hard to stand out, it is of equal consequence: you exhaust your significance.

Be he the first to stand or the last, a man must stand, " the father had told his adoring son. "And if there is only one man, then that man must stand alone." ~Thomas to Bruce Wayne

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.

I would tell 17-year-olds to be proud of who you are. Don't try to change yourself for others. Focus on school and your future. Boys and friends will come and go, just focus on you and your future.

The mind that has not been developed or trained is very scattered. That's the normal state of affairs, but it leaves us out of touch with a great deal in life, including our bodies.

Not everybody is perfect, and I don't think we should be looking for perfect people.

My audience doesn't agree with me on everything, but I love my audience, because they're totally okay with us having a dialogue.

To be creative, an idea must also be appropriate—useful and actionable.