Life is like a trumpet. If you don't put anything into it, you don't get anything out.

I think America concedes that (true American music) has sprung from the negro. When we take these things that come from the art of the Negro and from the heart…

If my serenade of song and story should serve as a pillow for some composer's head, as yet perhaps unborn, to dream and build on our fond melodies in his tomor…

You'll never miss the water 'til the well runs dry.