Duke Ellington Quotes

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

It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.

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

Music is my mistress, and she plays second fiddle to no one.

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

Love is indescribable and unconditional. I could tell you a thousand things I love about you and it still wouldn’t be enough.

Melody is the essence of music. I compare a good melodist to a fine racer, and counterpointists to hack post-horses.

Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous you don’t want it.

I’m playing the way I feel. If you don’t feel anything, I don’t feel anything in playing it.

Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.

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

No matter what a man has in heart or head, if he can’t write good music, nobody will care. It’s got to be the real thing on paper, too.

My whole life has been happiness. Through all of my misfortunes, misery, heartaches and strife, I have had happiness.

I’m just an up-and-coming young musician who is doing his own thing.

I believe in things that go unseen. I believe in things that are eternal. Music is my religion.

Music is something that should speak for itself. Once it does, I don’t have to.

Duke Ellington Quotes part 2

I’ve got it all together, but I can’t keep it together.

I was born at the age of three in 19

I was on the streets for a while but never really lived there.

I did what I did because that’s what I wanted to do.

Believe in yourself, and I promise you will do amazing things.

The good thing about music is that when it hits you, you feel no pain.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.

Music is the universal language of mankind.

The only way to do great work is to love what you do.

Music is the rhythm behind a heartbeat, the melody that lingers in your head, and the lyrics that touch your soul.

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

Music is the voice of the soul, and it can heal wounds that words cannot.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

Every artist was first an amateur.

Music is the key that can unlock the door to your emotions.

I never see failure as failure, but only as the universe trying to move me in a different direction.

The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.

Music can change the world because it can change people.

The only thing standing between you and your dreams is the will to try and the belief that it is actually possible.

Without music, life would be a mistake.

Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.

Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.

The harder you work for something, the greater you’ll feel when you achieve it.

Life is like a piano: the white keys represent happiness and the black keys represent sadness. But as you go through life’s journey, remember that the black keys also create music.

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.

Music is the soundtrack of our lives.

Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.

Music is the art of thinking with sounds.

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.

If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it’s yours. If it doesn’t, it never was.

Life is short, and it’s up to you to make it sweet.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.

Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.