Quincy Jones

You gotta do what you love and really believe in it because that is your truth.

Hell, nobody knows where jazz is going to go. There may be a kid right now in Chitlin Switch, Georgia, who is going to come along and upset everybody.

There’s two things you can’t live without. Water and music.

Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice.

I’m grateful for all the breaks and honors and opportunities I’ve had, but I always believe I won’t have it made until the humblest black kid in the most remote backwoods of America has it made.

Suppression of progress plays into the hands of the social enemy. Every advance in social justice establishes the nation.

You are a function of what the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is a function of what the whole ocean is doing.

There are some sick people in this world.

All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it.

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.

The South has a future which it can shape for itself, and avoid the mistakes which the more populous parts of the country have made.

You need to face the pain and the fear and walk through the Grief.

We tell lies when we are afraid, . . . afraid of what we don’t know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger.

If I only had a little humility, I’d be perfect.

Do you wish people to think well of you? Don’t speak of yourself.

People who consistently win have a clear and thoughtful strategy. They know what they need to do and when they need to do it. They write it down so they stay on course, and avoid any alternative that does not get them closer to the finish line.

People cannot discover new lands until they have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.