Wayne Shorter

You know the actor John Garfield? In one movie he walked up to this train station, the ticket booth, and the guy says, ‘Yes, where are you going?’ And he says, ‘I want a ticket to nowhere.’ I thought: that’s it. The freedom to do that. I want a ticket to nowhere.

I always think of music as interior decoration. So, if you have all kinds of music, you are fully decorated!

Music is interior decoration.

Your humanity is your instrument.

A series of vibrations. What does it matter, the source of the catalyst?

Music should not have any mandates. Jazz is not supposed to be something that is required to sound like jazz.

The only thing you can give a man without hurting him is an opportunity.

The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself.

There is no script. Live your life. Soak it all in.

Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don’t know what to do. Love!

I haven’t put a pencil to a piece of paper, working out a problem, in years; I do it in my head.

The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is.

We’re so afraid of each other… Colour, wealth, these things that don’t really matter still play too much of a role in how we see one another. And it’s sad, because the thing that least defines us is the colour of our skin.

It’s so much easier to tell people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.

When I was practicing psychology, I used to tell myself if I ever get to where I’m just doing this for the money or I’m just going through the motions, I’ll quit.

A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.

The less you know, the more you believe.

Since when is “public safety” the root password to the Constitution?

It’s just a matter of managing expectations. So for me, for example, you know, when your husband is President of the United States and you have children, something has got to give. I’ve made compromises in my life and my career, but I’ve also, in exchange, gained a wonderful platform to do some great work.

I don’t like to read books. They muss up my mind.

When the mind is perfectly clear, what is is what we want.