Quotes by Duke Ellington

• Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young.
• My attitude is never to be satisfied, never enough, never.
• There are two kinds of worries - those you can do something about and those you can't. Don't spend any time on the latter.
• The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.
• Playing "bop" is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
• People do not retire. They are retired by others.
• On becoming more acquainted with the word of the Bible, I began to understand so much more of what I had been taught, and of what I had learned about life and about the people in mine.
• Now I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees.
• You've got to find some way of saying it without saying it.
• There is hardly any money interest in art, and music will be there when money is gone.
• Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.
• Gray skies are just clouds passing over.
• Critics have their purposes, and they're supposed to do what they do, but sometimes they get a little carried away with what they think someone should have done, rather than concerning themselves with what they did.
• By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn't want your daughter to associate with.
• Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous you don't want it.
• A problem is your chance to do your best.
• A problem is a chance for you to do your best.
• A man is a god in ruins.
• I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
• Life is like jazz; it’s best when you improvise.
• Life is a lot like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.