Nina Simone Quotes

I was always a politician from the day the civil rights people chose me as their protest singer. ~ Nina Simone

To most white people, jazz means black and jazz means dirt, and that's not what I play. I play black classical music. ~ Nina Simone

It is a fact that I don't get enough love, I never did get enough love, ~ Nina Simone

I do not believe in mixing of the races. You can quote me. I don't believe in it, and I never have. I've never changed. I've never changed my hair. I've never changed my color, I have always been proud of myself, and my fans are proud of me for remaining the way I've always been. I married a white man one time, but he was a creep ~ Nina Simone

I listen to Radio 4 and put the iPod on shuffle. I like the randomness of, say, the Stones, then something from Nina Simone, Nick Drake or Bob Dylan. ~ Catherine McCormack

I think Nina Simone has had an amazing journey. She was spicy and she had attitude and she didn't care, she wanted her money in a paper bag and don't mess with me and I've been doing some research on that so. ~ Nia Long

I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about ... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important. ~ Nina Simone

You know, and the fact that Nina Simone had to start playing in clubs and sing because her parents had moved north to support her music education. You know, so she had to sing. She had to make a living 'cause she was supporting her family. So poverty and race put her in this place which, you know, created enormous success, but it's not what her psyche was all about. ~ Liz Garbus

Around 6:30, I fire up one of the playlists that my husband, Phil, has made. Nina Simone starts to sing and my movements become more fluid. I love to dance. Guests might see me on the line and think I'm cooking, but I'm really feeling the music, feeling the timing - dancing and cooking at the same time. ~ Tanya Holland

You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times. ~ Nina Simone

I'm sorry that I did not become the world's first black classic pianist. I think I would have been happier. ~ Nina Simone

Artists look at the environment, and the best artists correctly diagnose the problem. I'm not saying artists can't be leaders, but that's not the job of art, to lead. Bob Marley, Nina Simone, Harry Belafonte - there are artists all through history who have become leaders, but that was already in them, nothing to do with their art. ~ Talib Kweli

Talent is a burden not a joy. I am not of this planet. I do not come from you. I am not like you. ~ Nina Simone

Every day has its emotional difficulties. I miss my mother whether I'm singing her music or not. ~ Nina Simone

Since I was three I've been playing the piano. I've been onstage. My mother is an Evangelist and I used to play the piano at her revival meetings. ~ Nina Simone

From the beginning, it has been a no-no for a black man to touch a white woman. ~ Nina Simone

Sometimes I sound like gravel and sometimes I sound like coffee and cream. ~ Nina Simone

And when we pressed our heads to each other's hearts how did we not hear Carmen McRae singing? In Angela's fisted hands, Billie Holiday staggered past us and we didn't know her name. Nina Simone told us how beautiful we were and we didn't hear her voice. ~ Jacqueline Woodson

I don't like to go to strange places. I was in Italy for about five hours on my way to Africa. ~ Nina Simone

That is why we fly from the inner void, since God might steal into it. It is not the pursuit of pleasure and the aversion for effort which causes sin, but fear of God. We know that we cannot see him face to face without dying, and we do not want to die. ~ Nina Simone

I think that too many strangers were in Nina Simone life, and not enough people that she knew and loved. ~ Nikki Giovanni

Girls are taught to sing high and pretty, like Antony, not low and from the guts like Nina Simone. But we're slowly trying to change that. There are so many things we're not told growing up, and it's our true feminist responsibility to take the truth to the people who need to hear it. ~ Beth Ditto

Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me
And I'm feeling good
I'm feeling good ~ Nina Simone

Desegregation is a joke. ~ Nina Simone

They don't know that I'm dead, and my ghost is holding on. ~ Nina Simone

I try to swim every damn day I can, and I've learned to scuba dive and snorkel. ~ Nina Simone

How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it ~ Nina Simone

Lilac Wine"

I lost myself on a cool damp night
Gave myself in that misty light
Was hypnotized by a strange delight
Under a lilac tree
I made wine from the lilac tree
Put my heart in its recipe
It makes me see what I want to see...
And be what I want to be
When I think more than I want to think
Do things I never should do
I drink much more that I ought to drink
Because I brings me back you...

Lilac wine is sweet and heady, like my love
Lilac wine, I feel unsteady, like my love
Listen to me... I cannot see clearly
Isn't that she coming to me nearly here?

Lilac wine is sweet and heady where's my love?
Lilac wine, I feel unsteady, where's my love?

Listen to me, why is everything so hazy?
Isn't that she, or am I just going crazy, dear?

Lilac Wine, I feel unready for my love... ~ Nina Simone

Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking. ~ Nina Simone

To Love Somebody"

There' a light
A certain kind of light
It's never shown on me
I want my whole life to be
Lived with you
Lived with you

There's a way
Everybody say
Do each and every little thing
What good does it bring
If I ain't got you If I ain't got you
If I ain't got you If I ain't got you

You don't know
What it's like
Baby you don't know
What it's like
To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you

In my brain
See your face again
I know my frame of mind
You ain't got to be so blind
And I'm blind so blind

But I'm a woman
Can't you see what I am
I live and breathe for you
What good does it do
If I ain't got you If I ain't got you
If I ain't got you If I ain't got you

Say you don't know
What it's like
Baby you don't know what it's like
To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you

Oh'a, you don't know
What it's like
Baby you don't know
What it's like
To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you ~ Nina Simone

I play piano, by ear. Yes, I write songs ... and good ones. ~ Nina Simone

You've got to learn to leave the table
When love's no longer being served. ~ Nina Simone

Nina Simone Feeling Good

Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel


It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree you know how I feel




Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
That's what I mean

And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me

Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel ~ Nina Simone

Feelings

Feelings, nothing more than feelings,
Trying to forget my feelings of love.
Teardrops rolling down on my face,
Trying to forget my feelings of love.

Feelings, for all my life I'll feel it.
I wish I've never met you, girl;
You'll never come again.

Feelings, wo-o-o feelings,
Wo-o-o, feel you again in my arms.

Feelings, feelings
Like I've never lost you
And feelings like I've never
Have you again in my heart.

Feelings, for all my life I'll feel it.
I wish I've never met you, girl;
You'll never come again.

Feelings, feelings like I've
Never lost you
And feelings like I've never have you
Again in my life.

Feelings, wo-o-o feelings,
Wo-o-o, feelings again in my arms.
Feelings... ~ Nina Simone

There are singers that I have enjoyed, from Nina Simone and Ray Charles onward. But the music that made music the number one thing for me as a youth was jazz. ~ Robert Wyatt

This is the world you have made yourself, now you have to live in it. ~ Nina Simone

I am of the generation of segregation. Black Lives Matter is post. I said today, and I will say all the time, "If Nina [Simone] were here, she'd have her Black Lives Matter [T-shirt] on." I think they're great kids. They don't need me or anybody else to tell them what to do. ~ Nikki Giovanni

My generation is so used to having our public spaces look like the Starbucks, with the beautiful lighting and the little bit of Nina Simone and my coffee that's blended a certain way from Costa Rica. ~ Sandra Tsing Loh

I'll tell you what Freedom is to me. No fear. ~ Nina Simone

My job is not done. I address my songs now to the third world. I am popular all over Asia and Africa and the Middle East, not to speak of South Africa, where I'm trying to go to see Nelson Mandela. ~ Nina Simone

Music is a gift and a burden I've had since I can remember who I was. ~ Nina Simone

I've always sung. I was really into musical theater when I was growing up. As a kid, I listened to Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone, actually, on cassette tapes. ~ Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Snarling an oath from an Icelandic saga, I reclaimed my place at the head of the queue.
"Oy!" yelled a punk rocker, with studs in his cranium. "There's a fackin' queue!"
Never apologize, advises Lloyd George. Say it again, only this time, ruder. "I know there's a 'fackin' queue'! I already queued in it once and I am not going to queue in it again just because Nina Simone over there won't sell me a ruddy ticket!"
A colored yeti in a clip-on uniform swooped. "Wassa bovver?"
"This old man here reckons his colostomy bag entitles him to jump the queue," said the skinhead, "and make racist slurs about the lady of Afro-Caribbean extraction in the advance-travel window."
I couldn't believe I was hearing this. ~ David Mitchell

Slavery has never been abolished from America's way of thinking. ~ Nina Simone

This may be a dream, but I'll say it anyway: I was supposed to be married last year, and I bought a gown. When I meet Nelson Mandela, I shall put on this gown and have the train of it removed and put aside, and kiss the ground that he walks on and then kiss his feet. ~ Nina Simone

I was not reluctant to become a singer. Singing has been an activity I've done my whole life, without thought. ~ Nina Simone

The worst thing about that kind of prejudice ... is that while you feel hurt and angry and all the rest of it, it feeds you self-doubt. You start thinking, perhaps I am not good enough. ~ Nina Simone

That's one of my favorite songs of all time. It's so beautiful. It's an old song, sung by Nina Simone. This is the Cat Power cover. We pushed hard to get it and were lucky. It's so stunning. ~ Ellen Page

I came to expect despair every time I set foot in my own country, and I was never disappointed. ~ Nina Simone

How can you be an artist and not reflect the times? ~ Nina Simone

I'm just human, I have faults like anyone ~ Nina Simone

It was always Marx, Lenin, and revolution - real girl's talk. ~ Nina Simone

Love me, love me, love me,
Say you do.
Let me fly away with you.
For my love is like the wind,
And wild is the wind.

- Wild is the Wind ~ Ned Washington

The artist who gave me the most inspiration and direction, especially as a singer - and I absolutely consider myself a singer, 100 percent - is Nina Simone. She's my ultimate pianist-singer-type person. ~ Rufus Wainwright

I was responding to one thing for the woman I knew, and there's another thing for what did she give, right. She [Nina Simone] was a great teacher. ~ Nikki Giovanni

I don't like rap music at all. I don't think it's music. It's just a beat and rapping. ~ Nina Simone

Wild Is The Wind"

Love me, love me, love me, say you do
Let me fly away with you
For my love is like the wind
And wild is the wind

Give me more than one caress
Satisfy this hungriness
Let the wind blow through your heart
For wild is the wind

You touch me
I hear the sound of mandolins
You kiss me
With your kiss my life begins
You're spring to me
All things to me

Don't you know you're life itself
Like a leaf clings to a tree
Oh my darling, cling to me
For we're creatures of the wind
And wild is the wind
So wild is the wind

You touch me
I hear the sound of mandolins
You kiss me
With your kiss my life begins
Dady, you're spring to me
All things to me

Don't you know you're life itself
Like a leaf clings to a tree
Oh my darling, cling to me
For we're creatures of the wind
And wild is the wind
So wild is the wind

Wild is the wind
Wild is the wind
Wild is the wind ~ Nina Simone

To be young, gifted and black! ~ Nina Simone

There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were ~ Nina Simone

I think the rich will eventually have to cave in too, because the economic situation around the world is not gonna tolerate the United States being on top forever. ~ Nina Simone

Nina Simone had such an androgynous voice; the first time I listened to her I thought it was a man, and I'm sure a lot of people listening to me think I'm a woman. Her voice is kinda like the poster child for me. ~ Shamir

Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing. ~ Nina Simone

I try to not listen to all the girls I admire musically - like Nina Simone - just so I don't find myself imitating them, even if it's subconsciously. ~ Lou Doillon

I think it's fair to say that Nina Simone was a prodigy. ~ Michel Martin

My love is like the wind and wild is the wind. Give me more than one caress, satisfy my hungriness. Let the wind blow through your heart for wild is the wind. ~ Nina Simone

What is love but a prelude to sorrow ... with heartache ahead for your goal. ~ Nina Simone

If Rihanna stripped it all down morally rather than with her clothes, perhaps we'd get closer to Nina Simone. She's talented, but all we want is to sing the truth. If Britney Spears was to sing closer to her heart, she might have been the new Bobby Gentry or Dolly Parton. ~ Lou Doillon

I only knew classical music, which to me was the only true music. The only way I could survive at the bar was to mix the classical music with popular songs, and that meant I had to sing. What happened was that I discovered I had a voice plus the talent to mix classical music together with more popular songs, which at the time I detested. ~ Nina Simone

I don't like drug addicts and she sounds like a cat. ~ Nina Simone

I am particular about the seating of the audience - also about how much money they pay - but most of all where they are seated. If I am going to sing something intimate, who am I going to sing it to? ~ Nina Simone

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," a song that was written for Simone, she confronted the band's lead singer, Eric Burdon. "So you're the honky," she said, "who stole my song and got a hit out of it? ~ Nina Simone

I'm like a middle-aged person; when my friends go on about modern bands, I don't know what they are talking about. I'm into rock n' roll, like Jimi Hendrix. Not so much because of my parents, who used to play a lot of Nina Simone and older blues, but my brother and sister. ~ Georgia May Jagger

I prefer her [Nina Simone] jazz period much more so than her folk period. ~ Nikki Giovanni

Once I understood Bach's music, I wanted to be a concert pianist. Bach made me dedicate my life to music, and it was that teacher who introduced me to his world. ~ Nina Simone

I think it's the strength of her music, using art to make a statement. I think it really is. It was not a cheap gift. The gift was an expensive gift for Nina [Simone]. Diamonds are expensive. Her music was expensive. She paid for it, but I think it's her greatest gift. ~ Nikki Giovanni

People like Howlin' Wolf, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, John Lee Hooker, Nina Simone, Captain Beefheart - all of these artists were what I grew up listening to every day of my life. And there's a very healthy music scene in the west country of England, where I grew up. ~ P.J. Harvey

I think the important thing to understand first and foremost about Michael Jackson is that he was the international emblem of the African American blues spiritual impulse that goes back through slavery - Jim Crow, Jane Crow, up to the present moment, through a Louis Armstrong, through a Ma Rainey, through a Bessie Smith, all the way to John Coltrane, Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone. ~ Cornel West

I have to constantly re-identify myself to myself, reactivate my own standards, my own convictions about what I'm doing and why. ~ Nina Simone

You don't have to live next to me / Just give me my equality. ~ Nina Simone

Cause your mama's name was lonely, and your daddy's name was pain. And they called you little sorrow, cus you'll never love again. You ain't got no one to hold you. You ain't got no one to care. if you'd only understand it. nobody wants you anywhere. ~ Nina Simone

Nina Simone was a gifted and prolific singer, songwriter and pianist who became a powerful presence in the civil rights movement and paid a professional price for it. Behind the scenes, she struggled in a fractious, sometimes violent relationship with her husband and manager and with mental health issues that strained other relationships, including with her only daughter. ~ Michel Martin

I lay my fantasy in the backseat of Isa's car and slide in next to her. She snuggles up, using me as her personal pillow, her blond curls sprawled over my crotch. I close my eyes for a second, trying to get the image out of my head. And I don't know what to do with my hands. My right one is on the door armrest. My left one hovers over Brittany.
I hesitate. Who am I kidding? I'm not a virgin. I'm an eighteen-year-old guy who can deal with having a hot, passed-out girl next to me. Why am I afraid of putting my arm where it's comfortable, right over her midsection?
I hold my breath as I settle my arm on her. She cuddles closer and I'm feeling weird and light-headed. Either it's the aftereffects from the joint or . . . I don't want to think about the "or." Her long hair is wrapped around my thigh. Without thinking, I weave my hands in her hair and watch as the silky strands slowly fall through the V's between my fingers. ~ Simone Elkeles

...I think a book adaptation doesn't have to be just like the book, it has to feel like the book. That's what you want. You wand to get the feeling from the movie that you got from the book, and you want the characters to evoke the characters that you fell in love with." -Nina Jacobson ~ Kate Egan

Miguel glanced back at her, fist raised. "You shut up, nina, " he shouted, shaking his fist at Abby. He must have been pretty shaken to take his eyes off an opponent. Or maybe he still didn't consider me a serious threat. How insulting.
"I'll deal with you when I'm finished with - ugh!" I cut off his threat with a kick to the groin. ~ Rachel Vincent

nowhere her love was welcome, and through lack of use, its power had cooled and changed into hatred. It was easier to hate than to love when your love wasn't wanted. Marianne ~ Nina George

It is not enough that France should be regarded as a country which enjoys the remains of a freedom acquired long ago. If she is still to count in the world
and if she does not intend to, she may as well perish
she must be seen by her own citizens and by all men as an ever-flowing source of liberty. There must not be a single genuine lover of freedom in the whole world who can have a valid reason for hating France. ~ Simone Weil

I believe in finding a man who can be your best friend, because once the lust fades, friendship is what will hold the foundation of your marriage together. ~ Nicole Simone

We didn't have to get through the nightmare to get our miracle. You, Nina ... you're my miracle. It's always been you ~ Jamie McGuire

One is never got out of the cave, one comes out of it. ~ Simone Weil

It is grace that forms the void inside us and it is grace that can fill the void. ~ Simone Weil

So many of the great detectives that we see on television now owe their origins to Sherlock Holmes. What was very exciting about Rob's pitch and script was that he is a real Holmes-ian expert. He knew all of the mythology. He was very well-versed in the genesis of Holmes and the stories. And the twist with Watson is something we jumped at immediately. It's a very forward-thinking way of doing the show. ~ Nina Tassler

I am happy to keep working on books because I'm always reading, and I'm always trying to fall in love. ~ Nina Jacobson

I may apologize, but I won't kneel ~ Sierra Simone

Today, however, we are having a hard time living because we are so bent on outwitting death. ~ Simone De Beauvoir

What do you want with me? (Simone)
Not a damn thing. All I want is an entrance into the Daimon hell so that I can visit and kill an old friend. You're just the poor sap who got caught in the crossfire. (Xypher) ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon

The fact that I was studying the perfect harmony of the stars and planets at the exact same time I was falling in love with you. ~ Nina Lane

When I was older and I first started working, I was obsessed with buying my first Chanel jacket. I saved up my hard-earned money, went to Barneys, and bought a little black Chanel jacket. It saw many, many job interviews and many, many events. I'm not fitting into it lately, but I still have it. ~ Nina Garcia

When women act like women, they are accused of being inferior. When women act like human beings, they are accused of behaving like men. ~ Simone De Beauvoir

Just as a person who is always asserting that he is too good-natured is the very one from whom to expect, on some occasion, the coldest and most unconcerned cruelty, so when any group sees itself as the bearer of civilization this very belief will betray it into behaving barbarously at the first opportunity. ~ Simone Weil

Get a grip, Dad. I'm not going to do anything you wouldn't do at my age.'
He stands up and says, 'That's it. You're canceling this date. ~ Simone Elkeles