Music Quotes

There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.

Beethoven would often get so engrossed in his art that everyday life and reality would often be totally oblivious to him. He would often go into restaurants and sit at the table for hours in deep thought before finally demanding the bill only to be told he hasn’t yet ordered anything! If a pupil lived […]

I remember one day being in a music history class and a white woman was the teacher. She was… saying that the reason black people played the blues was because they were poor and had to pick cotton. In response to that comment, I said, “I’m from East St. Louis, and my father is rich, […]

When music and courtesy are better understood and appreciated, there will be no war.

I’ll play it first and tell you what it is afterwards.

Music has charms to soothe a savage breast, To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

Groups are out, four piece groups with guitars particularly are finished. The boys won’t go, Mr. Epstein. We know these things. You have a good business in Liverpool. Stick to that. (Decca Records, 1962)

When I was nine, I got “With The Beatles,” and my grandma bought me a honky old drum and an old cymbal. That’s it, isn’t it; what more is there? A drum, a cymbal and “With The Beatles.” Has the world really come on much further?

A decisive moment in the history of Western civilization. (About “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” in the London Times, 1977)