Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“I had always written in a circular way and through Stockhausen I could see that I didn't want to ever play again from eight bars to eight bars, because I never end songs: they just keep going on. Through Stockhausen I understood music as a process of elimination and addition.”
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007) first seen 1989 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Miles Davis; As quoted on p. 329. in his autobiography with Quincy Troupe, "Miles", published by Simon & Schuster, 1989.
“Trent Reznor: "The only thing that I play in my car right now is Arular by a girl named M.I.A., the most innovative artist in years." (2005) [Reznor subsequently wanted to collaborate with M.I.A. in 2005, and added her songs "Pull Up The People", "Hombre" and "Galang" to the setlist of Pre-Show Music played at Nine Inch Nails Lights in the Sky concert tour (2008 - 2009). 2005,”
“It's because they want to sound like Americans. I'd like to see them develop our music and sing it their way, but they think sounding American is going to take them higher, but it is not. They have beautiful voices, but they want to sound like Whitney Houston. You can't beat people like that at their own game. And they can't beat me at mine, either!”
Miriam Makeba (1932–2008) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Denselow, Robin (16 May 2008)
“O child! dear child! Above the clouds I lift my wing To hear the bells of Heaven ring; Some of their music, though my flights be wild, To Earth I bring; Then let me soar and sing!”
Edmund Clarence Stedman (1833–1908) first seen 1860 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Singer" (1860).
“My first singing role was as Susanna in a school production in a shortened form of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. I loved to sing and I was given lots of encouragement by a wonderful music teacher Mrs Ann Hill and by my parents who suggested I go to drama school.”
Elaine Paige (born 1948) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Angie Davidson Interviews Elaine Paige" by Angie Davidson in lupus.org.uk (2005)
“Remember this son, if you forget everything else. A poet is a musician who can’t sing. Words have to find a man’s mind before they can touch his heart. And, some men’s minds are woeful small targets. Music touches their hearts directly, no matter how small or stubborn the mind of the man who listens.”
Patrick Rothfuss (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sing again, with your dear voice revealing A tone Of some world far from ours, Where music and moonlight and feeling Are one.”
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) said by 1822 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Jane. The keen Stars were twinkling; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
“Come on, take me to the Mardi Gras, Where the people sing and play, Where the music is elite and there's dancing in the street, Both night and day.”
Paul Simon (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Music is a world within itself With a language we all understand, With an equal opportunity For all to sing, dance and clap their hands.”
Stevie Wonder (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Remember when the music Came from wooden boxes strung with silver wire And as we sang the words, it would set our minds on fire, For we believed in things, and so we'd sing.”
Harry Chapin (1942–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She had come to Aka to learn how to sing this world's tune, to dance its dance; and at last, she thought, away from the city's endless noise, she was beginning to hear the music and to learn how to move to it.”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A few can touch the magic string, And noisy Fame is proud to win them; Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them!”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809–1894) said by 1894 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Oliver Wendell Holmes
“Elected Silence, sing to me And beat upon my whorlèd ear, Pipe me to pastures still and be The music that I care to hear.”
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) said by 1889 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One should write not unskilfully in the running hand, be able to sing in a pleasing voice and keep good time to music; and, lastly, a man should not refuse a little wine when pressed upon him.”
Yoshida Kenkō (1283–1350) said by 1350 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1 (tr. Keene, 1955)
“Rose-cheeked Laura, come; Sing thou smoothly with thy beauty’s Silent music, either other Sweetly gracing.”
Thomas Campion (1567–1620) said by 1620 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“‘Where’s the next show?’, ‘Why don’t you make a Video?’, ‘Put on these beads and clothes and The Bling, Bling!’ Well, if that’s all it’s about than I think that I want out, of a career that won’t just let me sing. ...‘cause music, faith and knowledge should be free.”
Dawud Wharnsby (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For years I have encouraged my patients and students to play musical instruments. I believe that it is essential for their ultimate health to be able to express themselves musically. Inside each of us is the deep desire to open our hearts and sing out with love. I find that when they allow music-making to enter into their lives, there is a beautiful change. There is an opening of the heart.”
John Diamond (doctor) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To be able to interpret a piece, I have to fall in love with it. First and foremost, it must fill me with emotion so that I may do the same for those listening to it, even when I’m not composing the music or the lyrics, if I accept to sing a piece, it is because it reaches my heart and at that point it becomes a part of me, it’s my own.”
Andrea Bocelli (born 1958) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Famed Italian tenor sings two songs in new ‘Fatima’ movie (August 27, 2020)
“We helped plow the fields, build the dams, write the poems and sing the music of America. Are not all Americans proud, of Doree Miller, of Frederick Douglass, of Paul Robeson, of Joe Louis, of Marian Anderson”
Ollie Harrington (1912–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It’s just that I love to sing. I love to bring Africa to the world. The beauty of Africa, not the music that people are very content about seeing and talking about.”
Angelique Kidjo (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I like to make music that you can use to motivate yourself, because I’m going to be singing that every single day on stage. I’m not trying to sing no curses in my life.”
“She wished there was some place where she could go to hum it out loud. Some kind of music was too private to sing in a house cram full of people. It was funny, too, how lonesome a person could be in a crowded house.”
Carson McCullers (1917–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even as I sing in my own language about a South African experience,she says, I also see it as pan-Africanist music that speaks to the Diaspora as well. I create work that is interested in connecting us and bridging gaps”
Thandiswa Mazwai (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I sing about peace, love, and togetherness, since war, conflict and other disturbances did not bring any positive change to Africa, but it only creates refugee crisis, pains, agony, discomfort and economic hardship. I bring a music of hope to the people.”
Dehab Faytinga (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But when Black women sing, we seem to be given permission to perform pain for others to consume. People demand that Black women singers emote suffering and go so far as to call it their “best” music”
Feminista Jones (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We used to sit at home and sing, which I’d say sparked and motivated my interest in music – those moments are my main influences.”
Dumi Mkokstad wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am using now my family to actually build and encourage other families. As you know my boys are into music already and they sing with me most of the time. And now we have taken a tour together as family and we are going all out in making other families aware that God believes in family.”
Benjamin Dube (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Music also makes dry wood and donkey skin sing. And it makes tangible the subtle connections between the spirit, bodies and things, which we never tire of seeking, with all due respect to the mathematicians of sensory well-being.”
Pierangelo Sequeri (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no such thing as Roman popular music.* [...] Perhaps it's because Rome was part of the Papal States for so long, and the people were only allowed to sing litanies – otherwise, perhaps, some popes would have had their heads cut off!”
Armando Trovajoli (1917–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So I decided to change from a music man to an artiste, and that was the difficult part of it because I thought it was going to be easy. I could play, I could sing, but to create your own sound, where are you going to start from?”
“Growing up in Bariga helped me; and I would even say it’s influenced my music in lots of ways. It allowed me to sing the reality – where I’m from and the genuine lifestyle.”
“My whole family is in the entertainment business. My mom’s an actress. Whenever we’d get together for Christmas or Thanksgiving, we would sing in harmony, play around with music, or put on performances. It’s something I grew up with, and I’m so happy that I had it as an outlet. It’s really taking me to some fun places, and I’m excited about it! I love it. It’s everything to me.”
Dara Reneé (born 2000) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Right now, I’m literally living out what God promised as a little girl, how He would allow me to sing for the world. And I’m so, so grateful. Even the ups and downs of this music business, Christian business, all of it, it can be crazy. But I remember that I always wanted it and I remember who I’m doing it for.”
Erica Campbell (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The easiest has been music. That was always around. All of my family can sing. We were harmonizing in the car when I was a child. I was always doing it with my mom and brother. Those had to be the easiest and hardest things for me to develop. Now, for me to be around people that do the same thing, it’s so rewarding.”
Porscha Coleman (born 1985) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am an easy going person. I don't sing for money or fame. I was brought up in an environment where I was taught to love and respect music, not consider it a business.”
Shreya Ghoshal (born 1984) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To me, music is oxygen and I know that someday even if I can't sing, I can always continue listening to it.”
Shreya Ghoshal (born 1984) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The whole trouble with a folk song is that once you have played it through there is nothing much you can do except play it over again and play it rather louder. Most Russian music, indeed, consists in ringing changes on this device, skilfully disguised though the fact may be.”
Constant Lambert (1905–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hopeless of all he dared to hope so long, The music born within him dies away; Even the song he loved becomes a pain, Full-freighted with a yearning all in vain.”
Edmund Clarence Stedman (1833–1908) said by 1908 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you and I shall, like the believing shepherds, watch and long for His appearing, one day we, too, shall hear a music grander and sweeter even than the song of angels, when the great Composer shall transpose all the strains of earth from the minor into the major, when the wail of nature shall give way to the glad harmony of the everlasting jubilee.”
Abbott Eliot Kittredge (1834–1912) said by 1912 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The wine of Love is music, And the feast of Love is song: And when Love sits down to the banquet, Love sits long:Sits long and rises drunken, But not with the feast and the wine; He reeleth with his own heart, That great, rich Vine.”
James Thomson (poet, born 1834) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Music is made up of a large number of individual sounds, and is either a single melody or a part-song.”
Johannes Tinctoris (1435–1511) said by 1511 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't give a damn about "The Missouri Waltz" but I can't say it out loud because it's the song of Missouri. It's as bad as "The Star-Spangled Banner" so far as music is concerned.”
Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Time magazine (February 10, 1958)
“What am I singing? A song of seeds — The food of love. Eat the music.”
“He is made one with Nature: there is heard His voice in all her music, from the moan Of thunder, to the song of night's sweet bird.”
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) said by 1822 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Consecrate the place and day To music and Cecilia. Let no rough winds approach, nor dare Invade the hallow'd bounds, Nor rudely shake the tuneful air, Nor spoil the fleeting sounds. Nor mournful sigh nor groan be heard, But gladness dwell on every tongue; Whilst all, with voice and strings prepar'd, Keep up the loud harmonious song, And imitate the blest above, In joy, and harmony, and love.”
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) first seen 1692 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Song for St. Cecilia's Day (1692)
“'Twas easy following where invention trod — All eyes can see when light flows out from God. And thus did Jubal to his race reveal Music their larger soul, where woe and weal Filling the resonant chords, the song, the dance, Moved with a wider-winged utterance.”
George Eliot (1819–1880) said by 1880 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I see a face of love, Fair as sweet music when my heart was strong: Yea — art thou come again to me, great Song?" The face bent over him like silver night In long-remembered summers; that calm light Of days which shine in firmaments of thought, That past unchangeable, from change still wrought.”
George Eliot (1819–1880) said by 1880 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Homer, whose name shall live in epic song, While music numbers, or while verse has feet.”
John Dryden (1631–1700) said by 1700 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“—music's power Is little felt in sunlit hour; But hear its voice when hopes depart, Like swallows, flying from the heart On which the summer's late decline Has set a sadness and a sign;. . . . . . How deeply will the spirit feel The lute, the song's sweet-voiced appeal; And how the heart drink in their sighs As echoes they from Paradise.”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) said by 1838 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Had my eye never on the beauty dwelt Of human face, and my ear never drank The music of a human voice; I feel My spirit would have pour'd itself in song, Have learn'd a language from the rustling leaves, The singing of the birds, and of the tide.”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) said by 1838 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source