Eunice Kathleen Waymon Quotes
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The worst thing about that kind of prejudice... is that while you feel hurt and angry and all the rest of it, it feeds you self-doubt. You start thinking, perhaps I am not good enough.
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Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking.
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This is the world you have made yourself, now you have to live in it.
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I feel more alive now than I ever have in my life. I have a chance to live, as I've dreamed.
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My singing, if you want to call it that is merely another medium of expression. Just an instrument I play. That's how I see my voice.
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To be young, gifted and black!
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Music is a gift and a burden I've had since I can remember who I was.
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I would like you to know, I am a doctor of music.
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What is love but a prelude to sorrow...with heartache ahead for your goal.
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I was always a politician from the day the civil rights people chose me as their protest singer.
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I believe in racial memory too. I'm sure I've got ancient African blood in me that has something to do with what I am.
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I feel what they feel. And people who listen to me know that, and it makes them feel like they're not alone.
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Talent is a burden not a joy. I am not of this planet. I do not come from you. I am not like you.
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I think the rich are too rich and the poor are too poor. I don't think the black people are going to rise at all; I think most of them are going to die.
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It's logical that people from bad times will reflect their feelings in their communication. Music is part of the communication. If you lived it, you can do it.
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I do love to sing Jacques Brel songs, intensely. I get terribly excited, just by reading a couple of lines in any one of his songs.
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This may be a dream, but I'll say it anyway: I was supposed to be married last year, and I bought a gown. When I meet Nelson Mandela, I shall put on this gown and have the train of it removed and put aside, and kiss the ground that he walks on and then kiss his feet.
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How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?
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I would like a man now who is rich, and who can give me a boat - a sailboat. I want to own it and let him pay for it. My first love is the sea and water, not music. Music is second.
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It's a good time for black people to be alive.
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Theory and harmony broadened my mind in music. I know what music is made of.
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I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.
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It's time to take a look at my failures and stop calling them successes. Now I can start working at something that can use me best.
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The Beatles are lucky, very lucky. But what has happened to them has nothing to do with them, in a sense. They came along at the right time. Attention was focused on them. They've had the chance to grow in almost any direction they wanted. Very lucky. They are not exceptionally talented.