My music is evidence of my souls will to live.

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.'

Most of the soloists at Birdland had to wait for Parker's next record in order to find out what to play next. What will they do now?

Anybody can make the simple complecated. Creativity is making the complecated simple.

Jazz music is a language of the emotions.

Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that's easy. What's hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.

I've got a feeling that if it's so easy for you - the struggle and the initiative are not as strong as they are for a person who has to struggle and therefore has more to say.