Critics have their purposes, and they're supposed to do what they do, but sometimes they get a little carried away with what they think someone should have done, rather than concerning themselves with what they did.

I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.

A problem is a chance for you to do your best.

There is hardly any money interest in art, and music will be there when money is gone.

Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous you don't want it.

By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn't want your daughter to associate with.

Playing "bop" is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.

On becoming more acquainted with the word of the Bible, I began to understand so much more of what I had been taught, and of what I had learned about life and about the people in mine.

The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.

You've got to find some way of saying it without saying it.

Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.

A man is a god in ruins.

Now I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees.

My attitude is never to be satisfied, never enough, never.

A problem is your chance to do your best.

There are two kinds of worries - those you can do something about and those you can't. Don't spend any time on the latter.

Critics have their purposes, and they're supposed to do what they do, but sometimes they get a little carried away with what they think someone should have done, rather than concerning themselves with what they did.

Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young.

Gray skies are just clouds passing over.

It's like an act of murder; you play with intent to commit something.

People do not retire. They are retired by others.

Playing 'bop' is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.

A problem is a chance for your to do your best.

A goal is a dream with a finish line.

There are simply two kinds of music good music and the other kind ... the only yardstick by which the result should be judged is simply that of how it sounds. If it sounds good its successful if it doesnt it has failed.

By & large Jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn't want your daughter to associate with.

New York is a place where the rich walk, the poor drive Cadillacs, and beggars die of malnutrition with thousands of dollars hidden in their mattresses.

San Francisco is one of the great cultural plateaus of the world - one of the really urbane communities in the United States - one of the truly cosmopolitan places and for many, many years, it always has had a warm welcome for human beings from all over the world.

Love is indescribable and unconditional. I could tell you a thousand things that it is not, but not one that it is.

In a sense, 'Schmidt' is the most Omaha of my films. But have I gotten it right? I'm not sure. Did Fellini get Rome right? Did Ozu get Tokyo right?

Working with Mario Testino was a joy. He's very young spirited, and it's always lovely and a pleasure to spend time talking to him about all different things.

Keys show up when you reconcile yourself to the bus.

One thing I did was grow up as an ardent naturalist. I never grew out of my bug period.

I value comedy. I value somebody who can be funny.

The man who has done his level best... is a success, even though the world may write him down a failure.

I think it is important to help our country's image outside of Spain.

I have a road bike and a mountain bike, and I tend to use them both a lot. They help you keep your balance and your stamina.

I'd never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you, and I'd never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you.

A brother may not be a friend but a friend will always be a brother.

People used to say, 'Andy Serkis lent his movements to Gollum,' and now they say, 'Andy Serkis played Caesar.' That's a significant leap.

Acting had been a hobby that turned into a career, the directing was a hobby that turned into a career and music just really allowed me to find another way to express myself.

If you ever get a second chance in life for something, you've got to go all the way.

A stylist might say you look amazing in anything. Your family will always tell you if you look a complete idiot.

The desire to do different things was the main motivator that made me leave late night because I'd been there seven years. The combination of an entrepreneurial desire to see how far I could push my success and a short attention span. But now I've done other things. And I'm sort of ready to sit somewhere and sit in the same place for a while.

I was a decent student but not a great student.

After a point of time, when you get success and fame, money and everything, the purpose of life has to be redefined. For me, I think that purpose is to build bridges. Artists can do that very easily, more than politicians.

Girls don't poop, so don't claim you do. You can fart - because farting is funny - but we don't want to know that you poop.

And, uh, I did that, and there was nothing more ridiculous to me than finding the weight of the earth because I didn't care how much the earth weighed.

That is who Barack Obama is - a person of admirable character - and that is who he has remained for me over these last four years. I have not agreed with his every decision, but never once have I seen him break his cool, lose his composure, or abandon his insightful perspective - even during the most serious and/or absurd national disasters.