Not one ounce of my self worth depends on your acceptance of me.
Excellence isn’t an act, it’s a habit
Every day, my daddy told me the same thing. ‘Once a task is just begun, never leave it till it’s done. Be the labour great or small, do it well or not at all.’
The process is the most beautiful part.
I learned real early why God gave us two ears and one mouth, because you’re supposed to listen twice as much as you talk.
Music was the one thing I could control. It was the one world that offered me freedom. When I played music, my nightmares ended. My family problems disappeared. I didnt have to search for answers. The answers lay no further than the bell of my trumpet and my scrawled, pencilled scores. Music made me full, strong, popular, self-reliant and cool.
Let’s not get too full of ourselves. Let’s leave space for God to come into the room.
I’ve been driven all my life by a spirit of adventure and a criminal level of optimism. I believed in my dreams because they were my only option. The people who make it to the top are addicted to their calling. You have to honor the gift God has given you. The people who get the call are the ones who’d be doing whatever it is they love, even if they weren’t being paid.
Imagine what a harmonious world it could be if every single person, both young and old shared a little of what he is good at doing.
You Make Your Mistakes To Learn How To Get To The Good Stuff
Greatness occurs when your children love you, when your critics respect you and when you have peace of mind.
You cannot get an A if you’re afraid of getting an F.
Jazz has the power to make men forget their differences and come together… Jazz is the personification of transforming overwhelmingly negative circumstances into freedom, friendship, hope, and dignity.
The people who make it to the top – whether they’re musicians, or great chefs, or corporate honchos – are addicted to their calling … [they] are the ones who’d be doing whatever it is they love, even if they weren’t being paid.
There’s nothing in the world worse than having an opportunity that you’re not prepared for. Good luck usually follows the collision of opportunity and preparation – it’s a result of that collision. You’ve got to be prepared. So, make your mistakes now and make them quickly. If you’ve made the mistakes, you know what to expect the next time. That’s how you become valuable.
It’s the attitude about life, man. Looking at the light instead of the dark. Looking at love instead of fear.
I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, “Ain’t that the truth.”
You can study orchestration, you can study harmony and theory and everything else, but melodies come straight from God.
Every day you must be able to say, I have to get up because I’m needed by someone. As long as you have that, you’re healthy.
The only music I don’t like is bad music.
When you’re over the hill, that’s when you pick up speed.
I tell my kids and I tell proteges, always have humility when you create and grace when you succeed, because its not about you. You are a terminal for a higher power. As soon as you accept that, you can do it forever.
It has been proven time and time again in countless studies that students who actively participate in arts education are twice as likely to read for pleasure, have strengthened problem-solving and critical thinking skills, are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, four times more likely to participate in a math and science fair.
If architecture is frozen music then music must be liquid architecture.
A song should have all the color and beauty of every rose.
