George Gershwin Quotes

As a New Yorker you can't help but be proud of the fact that so much music and culture started here. Punk rock, jazz, hip-hop and house music started here, George Gershwin debuted 'Rhapsody in Blue' here; the Velvet Underground are from New York. ~ Moby

I like to think of music as an emotional science. ~ George Gershwin

My people are Americans. My time is today. ~ George Gershwin

Gershwin's melodic gift was phenomenal. His songs contain the essence of New York in the 1920s and have deservedly become classics of their kind, part of the 20th-century folk-song tradition in the sense that they are popular music which has been spread by oral tradition (for many must have sung a Gershwin song without having any idea who wrote it). ~ George Gershwin

As far as songwriters, I've always been a fan of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin; those guys mean a lot to me. ~ Mel Brooks

Fame in this country is a religion that demands human sacrifice, a religion to which I do not wish to belong. You start to take yourself so seriously - I saw it happening to me, after I had written my first book at the age of 23. I'd give lectures or seminars, people would tell me how amazingly great I was, and sooner or later, you believe them. You end up exactly with what Oscar Levant said to George Gershwin: "Tell me, George, if you had it to do all over again, would you still fall in love with yourself?" After ~ Ken Wilber

All great composers of the past spent most of their time studying. Feeling alone won't do the job. A man also needs technique. ~ George Gershwin

A song is not a song until you sing it
A bell is not a bell until you ring it
Love is not Love until you give it away ~ George Gershwin

I did my New York debut at 21. It was 'On the Town' at the George Gershwin Theatre. New York is my artistic home. ~ Jesse Tyler Ferguson

What the hell do you want to work for somebody else for? Work for yourself! ~ George Gershwin

It sounds simple, of course, but personally I can think of no more mentally arduous task than making music. ~ George Gershwin

Not many composers have ideas. Far more of them know how to use strange instruments which do not require ideas. ~ George Gershwin

The extraordinary thing about my mother, she's so modest about me. ~ George Gershwin

I don't care if it's a Cole Porter song, or George Gershwin, or Lennon/McCartney, or Elton John, or you know, whoever, Bob Dylan. Great songs are great songs, and they stand the test of time, and they can be interpreted and recorded with many points of view, but yet still retain the essence of what makes them good songs. ~ John Oates

When I'm in my normal mood, music drips from my fingers. ~ George Gershwin

To George Gershwin, on refusinghim as a pupil: You would only lose the spontaneous quality of your melody, and end by writing bad Ravel. ~ Maurice Ravel

My first role was in the George Gershwin musical 'Crazy for You' at the Orlando Repertory Theatre when I was 11 - I grew up in Florida - and I wasn't old enough to be in it, but they let me anyway. I was just this little shrimp in a leotard. ~ Aubrey Peeples

It took me three weeks to write the 'Rhapsody in Blue.' I had always wanted to write something blue and Paul Whiteman inspired. ~ George Gershwin

Jazz is one of the best things that you can find in your life, it can always be your friend. ~ George Gershwin

Why should I limit myself to only one woman when I can have as many women as I want? ~ George Gershwin

Gershwin's tragedy was not that he failed to cross the tracks, but rather that he did, and once there in his new habitat, was deprived of the chance to plunge his roots firmly into the new soil. ~ George Gershwin

I grew up with singers. My father's mother sang opera. My dad was a big band singer. I can't remember a time there wasn't music in the house, so I grew up listening to great songwriters - George Gershwin, Cole Porter - and my grandma was playing opera for me before I was 3. ~ J. D. Souther

I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise. ~ George Gershwin

Look at the piano. You'll notice that there are white notes and black notes. Figure out the difference between them and you'll be able to make whatever kind of music you want. ~ George Gershwin

Music sets up certain vibration which unquestionably results in a physical reaction. Eventually the proper vibration for every person will be found and utilized. ~ George Gershwin

It is always possible to create something original. ~ George Gershwin

Writing music is not so much inspiration as hard work. ~ George Gershwin

All these tales of people sitting down and composing symphonies just as though they were writing a letter are very much exaggerated; at least, it isn't that way in my work. ~ George Gershwin

True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. ~ George Gershwin

The European boys have small ideas but they sure know how to dress 'em up. ~ George Gershwin

Summertime And the living is easy Fish are jumpin' And the cotton is high Oh, your daddy's rich And your mama's good lookin' So hush little baby now don't you cry One of these mornin's You're gonna rise up singin' Then you'll spread your wings And take to the sky But til that mornin' Ain't nothin' can harm you With your daddy And your mammy standin' by. ~ George Gershwin

I frequently hear music in the heart of noise. ~ George Gershwin

The Gershwin legacy is extraordinary because George Gershwin died in 1937, but his music is as fresh and vital today as when he originally created it. ~ Michael Feinstein

He's a world-famous name to people who care about his music, but there are many people who have never heard of George Gershwin and those numbers increase. ~ Michael Feinstein

Originality is the only thing that counts. But the originator uses material and ideas that occur round him and pass through him. And out of his experience comes the original creation. ~ George Gershwin

In Jazz, like in America, the group works together toward a common cause with lots of room left for each individual to shine. ~ Richie Gerber

As a composer, Dylan now fits comfortably alongside George Gershwin or Irving Berlin, though he grumpily refuses to wear any man's collar. ~ Douglas Brinkley

Life is a lot like jazz - it's best when you improvise. ~ George Gershwin

Of all the bigotries that savage the human temper there is none so stupid as the anti-Semitic. ~ David Lloyd George

Then Snowball (for it was Snowball who was best at writing) took a brush between the two knuckles of his trotter, painted out MANOR FARM from the top bar of the gate and in its place painted ANIMAL FARM. This was to be the name of the farm from now onwards. ~ George Orwell

The majority of pacifists either belong to obscure religious sects or are simply humanitarians who object to taking life and prefer not to follow their thoughts beyond that point. But there is a minority of intellectual pacifists, whose real though unacknowledged motive appears to be hatred of western democracy and admiration for totalitarianism. Pacifist propaganda usually boils down to saying that one side is as bad as the other, but if one looks closely at the writing of the younger intellectual pacifists, one finds that they do not by any means express impartial disapproval but are directed almost entirely against Britain and the United States ... ~ George Orwell

Bran tore his eyes away from the monster. That was when he noticed the bundle in Robb's arms. He gave a cry of delight and moved closer. The pup was a tiny ball of grey-black fur, its eyes still closed. It nuzzled blindly against Robb's chest as he cradled it, searching for milk among his leathers, making a sad little whimpery sound. Bran reached out hesitantly. "Go on," Robb told him. "You can touch him." Bran ~ George R R Martin

We changed the name from Sex Gang Children to Culture Club because Jon Moss, our drummer, went to L.A. on holiday and took some demo tapes with him. -Everyone loved the music but nobody liked the name. I -remember getting a postcard from Jon from L.A. saying, "I don't think America's ready for the Sex Gang Children." ~ Boy George

We're now interested in finding those who may attack America and arrest them before they do. We've had over nearly a thousand people have been detained in America and questioned about their motives and their intentions. ~ George W. Bush

People say I'm indecisive, but I don't know about that. ~ George H. W. Bush

Any man over forty is a scoundrel. ~ George Bernard Shaw

The Berlin Wall is the defining achievement of socialism. ~ George Will

Pride only helps us to be generous; it never makes us so, any more than vanity makes us witty. ~ George Eliot

Life is measured by the rapidity of change, the succession of influences that modify the being. ~ George Eliot

Fine dressing is a foule house swept before the doores. ~ George Herbert

The administration is using the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to cut the wages of people desperately trying to rebuild their lives and their communities. ~ George Miller

Who are you?" he would ask her every day. "No one," she would answer, she who had been Arya of House Stark, Arya Underfoot, Arya Horseface. She had been Arry and Weasel too, and Squab and Salty, Nan the cupbearer, a grey mouse, a sheep, the ghost of Harrenhal ... but not for true, not in her heart of hearts. In there she was Arya of Winterfell, the daughter of Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn, who had once had brothers named Robb and Bran and Rickon, a sister named Sansa, a direwolf called Nymeria, a half brother named Jon Snow. In there she was someone ... but that was not the answer he wanted. ~ George R R Martin

Everything you ever wanted lies on the other side of fear. ~ George Addair

When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbours;
Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome,
And get knocked on the head for his labours.
To do good to Mankind is the chivalrous plan,
And is always as nobly requited;
Then battle fro Freedom wherever you can,
And, if not shot or hanged, you'll get knighted. ~ George Gordon Byron

I suppose one reason why we are seldom able to comfort our neighbours with our words is that our good will gets adulterated, in spite of ourselves, before it can pass our lips. We can send black puddings and pettitoes without giving them a flavour of our own egoism; but language is a stream that is almost sure to smack of a mingled soil. ~ George Eliot

Our Nation's founding commitment is still our deepest commitment: In our world, and here at home, we will extend the frontiers of freedom. ~ George W. Bush

The man had a hand down between her legs, and he must have been hurting her there, because the woman started to moan, low in her throat. ~ George R R Martin

How wide is all this long pretense!
There is in love a sweetness ready penned,
Copy out only that, and save expense. ~ George Herbert

It is a mysterious thing, the loss of faith - as mysterious as faith itself. ~ George Orwell

The world still consists of two clearly divided groups: the English and the foreigners. One group consists of less than 50 million people; the other of 3,950 million. The latter group does not really count. ~ George Mikes

In practical life the wisest and soundest people avoid speculation. ~ George Earle Buckle

That night the wind was howling almost like a wolf and there were some real wolves off to the west giving it lessons. ~ George R R Martin

I am the King. I tell. I am not told. I am the verb, sir. I am not the object. (King George III) ~ Alan Bennett

The business world worships mediocrity. Officially we revere free enterprise, initiative and individuality. Unofficially we fear it. ~ George Lois

Your heart and your mouth wil be in two separate parts of your body if you again forget in whose presence you stand. ~ George Bernard Shaw

No more Keats, I entreat: flay him alive; if some of you don't I must skin him myself: there is no bearing the drivelling idiotism of the Mankin. ~ George Gordon Byron

Worry is discounting possible future sorrows so that the individual may have present misery. ~ William George Jordan

The story was certainly current at court, and in 1535 a Member of Parliament, Sir George Throckmorton, accused Henry to his face of 'meddling' with both Anne's mother and sister Mary.
'Never with the mother,' Henry said. ~ Alison Weir

It is not observed in history that families improve with time. ~ George William Curtis

Here's the teaching point, if you're teaching kids about intelligence and policy: Intelligence does not absolve policymakers of responsibility to ask tough questions, and it doesn't absolve them of having curiosity about the consequences of their actions. ~ George Tenet

There are certain moments in the history of a nation when the choices made define the decades to come. ~ George Papandreou

The Lannisters never declined, graciously or otherwise. The Lannisters took what was offered. ~ George R R Martin

Nothing of importance happened today. ~ King George III

I came into politics partly because I want to be able to reduce taxes so that individuals have more of their money to spend, so that businesses have more of their money to create jobs, but I believe that lower taxes are sustainable when you get the public finances in order, so I will only make promises I can keep on taxation. ~ George Osborne

To love is for the Soul to choose a companion, and travel with it along the perilous defiles and winding ways of life; mutually sustaining, when it is rugged with obstructions, and mutually rejoicing, when rich broad plains and sunny slopes make journeying delight. ~ George Henry Lewes