Jazz music is as American as it gets, and so is the U.S. Postal Service. A Miles Davis stamp is a perfect marriage of two great American institutions.

If it were a choice between me getting killed or one of my friend's kids, I would happily take the shot.

I think politicians get hamstrung by the nature of politics when the private sector can really do great things.

With age, life becomes complex and difficult, often fraught with risk on several levels, from the practical to the fiscal.

If I were a doctor, I would prescribe that you addict yourself deeply and irrevocably to music and never, ever seek cure outside of more music. It really is the best drug available.

I have no pride about anything I have done. It's just not the way I think about things. I do the work, always, as hard as I can, to the point of pain, injury, exhaustion, if that is what it takes. Once I am done, I move on.

I can die anytime I want. I wish I could do the same with life.