Thelonius Monk went over to Bird and Bud Powell and said, 'I told you guys to act crazy, but I didn't tell you to fall in love with the act. You're really crazy now.'

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.

Bach is how buildings got taller. It's how we got to the moon.

Whatever coast he's on, a man should be himself. I don't write in any particular idiom, I write Charles Mingus.

Thelonius Monk went over to Bird and Bud Powell and said, 'I told you guys to act crazy, but I didn't tell you to fall in love with the act. You're really crazy now.'

My music is evidence of my souls will to live.

Everything I do is Mingus.