The simple things in life ground me and keep me focused so I'm able to do a good job with what is in front of me.

The simple things in life ground me and keep me focused so I'm able to do a good job with what is in front of me.

I thought people cared about music in a deep way, so I was writing to that spirit in people and in myself. It was me, thinking I knew what was up. Youth, who else can change the world?

The things I really learned, I learned from watching my parents. They take care of business. Always have.

I think Wes Montgomery is the greatest jazz guitarist that ever lived.

I really live a simple life and don't need very much to feel good and happy. Don't get me wrong; I believe you should get what you earn. Sometimes you have to fight for it.

Dad made it to Gold Shield Detective, so he always busted Robin, my oldest brother, and me. Always got caught, whatever we were doing.

I can pay my rent now. I guess I could always do that, but now I can get an apartment with heat.

I was playing violin for a long time, about 6 years. It takes a while. You need very patient people in your house when you have a violin.

I consider myself a serious musician. Doing a comedy show does not take away from that in any way.

After a while I thought it didn't make any sense to use a pick. It's kind of like typing with one finger on each hand instead of using all your fingers.

My love life doesn't stink; it's nonexistent.

I really worked with icons in the music business, which really had a strong effect on me. It wasn't just pick-up gigs.

James Brown is the reason I play guitar.

If you play jazz, then you play with your fingers. If you're playing rock, you use a pick. There's really no rhyme or reason to that other than that's just the way it has been.

It's shameful what's happening in this country in terms of what we deny our children.

I had the fortunate experience to play with people from different schools of music. Sam Rivers is from the fundamentalist school of music.

The worst part is doubt. When you doubt yourself, which we are taught to do, you get lost.

I love both my parents dearly.

It is hard for a black man to just be himself. We spend so much time in defense of something that is indefensible because there is nothing to defend.

Serious musicians are finding it harder and harder to have a voice in the world of music these days.

Being as versatile as I am, I take offense to the notion that no serious musician would not be doing a late night talk show gig. One has to be open enough in other areas to be able to contribute to a show like this.

The belief that we are what the media says we are, what people perceive we are, is soon to be what we think we are. We are treated based on this warped perception. It is hard to get away from it.

I feel very honored to be playing with Bill Pierce. He's such a great musician.

I am blessed to have Mom and Dad.

Inspiration is one thing and you can't control it, but hard work is what keeps the ship moving. Good luck means, work hard. Keep up the good work.

Sometimes I wonder if I got lulled into not wanting things because I grew up black in this country.

My love life is like everyone else's - great, and then terrible.

In most places that are rich in guitar culture, everyone uses their fingers, like in Spain or Africa. In Japan there are string instruments played that way. It is not until you get in the States that you find people using picks.

I wish I could sing. I love singers, but I am way too shy. Scares the hell out of me.

I want someone who is open-minded, dedicated to whatever she is doing and isn't afraid to say I love you. As for looks, she shouldn't have three heads. I want a regular human being.

People see my current success but don't realize I've worked hard to get where I am. I used to clean garbage off the Philadelphia docks and put a lot of time into developing my music.

The worst part is doubt. When you doubt yourself which we are taught to do you get lost.

I have done things politically, and I've been running a business at the same time, but I sort of joke that to some extent I do more than most legislators have done in their whole careers, and I've been doing it as a part-time job.

I believe that if a man does a job as well as a woman, he should be paid as much.

Don't let ambition get so far ahead that it loses sight of the job at hand.

You really should not do this job unless you're willing to put in that enormous amount of effort. You should not do the job unless you're willing to take risks. And you shouldn't do the job unless you're willing to lose the job, too.

In 1975 I decided that there was no future in flying (airline jobs were impossible to get, and who wants a job where you are judged only by seniority?) and headed off to grad school.

If we wait for the U.S. to do something, we will be waiting for a very long time. It's Europe, it's Australia, it's the other developed and middle developing countries that have got to do the job.

Even if I don't have a job, I work on plays and scenes.

In the middle of a recession no tax increase is justified because it kills jobs, and any tax increase is a job-killing measure and should be defeated.

It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.

Well, I think that those of us in public life that are trying to do a good job, and that are faced with this popular new game that the media has of being critical of everything that anybody in public office does probably are thin-skinned.

People may take a job for more money, but they often leave it for more recognition.

I always saw being in a band a full time job.

Promoting job creation and economic growth in the Hudson Valley is one of my top priorities in Congress.

A politician will do anything to keep his job - even become a patriot.

Harvard is first and foremost a university and not a consulting operation, and our job here is to teach and to research and to create knowledge on Asia in conjunction and in cooperation with scholars as well as with political, intellectual, and cultural leaders in Asia.

While a lab Director can get done the things that he regards as important, he has the more important job of bringing out the best ideas of the broader scientific community.