Listening to Benny [Goodman] talk about the clarinet was like listening to a surgeon get hung up on a scalpel.

You have no idea of the women I didn't marry.

There's such a cynicism about the phrase 'I laughed all the way to the bank.' It's as though money is what you're doing, rather than playing music. If you're playing a money game, why not get into banking?

Dance music-as I keep saying, you can dance to a windshield wiper... a windshield wiper that's fairly steady gives you a beat and all you need is an out-of-tune playing 'Melancholy Baby' and you've got dance music.

I can't understand guys who just have to have your autograph. What do you do when you get home, take it out & look at it?

The good old days are neither better nor worse than the ones we're living through right now.

When I first met Benny Goodman he wouldn't talk about anything but clarinets, mouthpieces, reeds, etc. When I tried to change the subject, he said 'But that's what we have in common. We both play clarinet.' I said, 'No, Benny, that's where we're different. You play clarinet, I play music.'