“Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking. . . . The new inventive phrases we make up to describe things -- all that to me is jazz just as much as the music we play”
“I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.”
“I only knew classical music, which to me was the only true music. The only way I could survive at the bar was to mix the classical music with popular songs, and that meant I had to sing. What happened was that I discovered I had a voice plus the talent to mix classical music together with more popular songs, which at the time I detested.”
“Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing”
“I do not believe in mixing of the races. You can quote me. I don't believe in it, and I never have. I've never changed. I've never changed my hair. I've never changed my color, I have always been proud of myself, and my fans are proud of me for remaining the way I've always been. I married a white man one time, but he was a creep”
“How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it”
Nina Simone
More quotes from Jazz musicians http://jazzonline.gr/en/jazznews/great-quotes.html