Quincy Jones quotes

Every day, my daddy told me the same thing. 'Once a task is just begun, never leave it till it's done. Be the labour great or small, do it well or not at all.'

Music in movies is all about dissonance and consonance, tension and release.

If architecture is frozen music then music must be liquid architecture.

I think the attraction of 'American Idol' is about the basic human nature attitude that is, 'We can put you up there. But we can take you down.'

My father was a carpenter, a very good carpenter. He also worked for the Jones boys. They were not family members, we weren't related at all. They started the policy racket in Chicago, and they had the five and dime store.

Young people should travel, and they don't. You can't know if you don't go.

If architecture is frozen music then music must be liquid architecture.

Bebop and hip-hop, in so many ways, they're connected. A lot of rappers remind me so much of bebop guys in terms of improvisation, beats and rhymes. My dream is to see hip-hop incorporated in education. You've got the youth of the world in the palm of your hand.

I like all music. The only music I don't like is bad music.

Imagine what a harmonious world it could be if every single person, both young and old shared a little of what he is good at doing.

It's amazing how much trouble you can get in when you don't have anything else to do.

I never cared about money or fame, and I don't care now. I follow the groove, and money always follows.

To me it's no accident that all the symphony orchestras around the world tune up to the note A. And A is 440 cycles, except in Germany where it's 444. But the universe is 450 cycles. So what I'm trying to say is, I think it's God's voice, melody especially. Counterpoint, retrograde inversion, harmony... that's the science and the craft.

I tell my kids and I tell proteges, always have humility when you create and grace when you succeed, because it's not about you. You are a terminal for a higher power. As soon as you accept that, you can do it forever.