It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. Carry it by the comfortable handles of gratitude for what's positive and that it is not worse, rather than the uncomfortable edges of bitterness for the negatives and that it is not better.

music became my refuge and then my salvation.

I made a promise to myself to be kinder to other people.

Don't be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can, because when you feel nothing, it's just death.

The best thing about living... Is the chance to keep on doing it!

Count Basie isn't just a man, or even just a band. He's a way of life.

50 years old is like springtime to me.