George Gershwin

"I've written some pretty fair stuff, but I haven't yet written my masterpiece."

"A composer is a fellow who goes home to his piano and invents beautiful melodies."

"The man I would like to be is not the man I would like to talk to at dinner."

"I'm writing a piano concerto and it's going to take me five years."

"Musical ideas don't come unless you're relaxed and having a good time."

"I want to live, not merely exist."

"The future of music may not lie in the concert hall, but in the music drama."

"Rhythm is the soul of life."

"A composer is not so very different from the rest of humanity."

"I noticed that the people who actually accomplish things are the ones who ask for help."

"One cannot judge creativity on the basis of parental nationality."

"Do, do, do what you've done, done, done before, baby."

"I frequently hear music in the heart of noise."

"American music should be American in character."

"The joy of composing is that you can express yourself without words."

"I believe that a composer must make efforts toward understanding the music and the music of a composer."

"Let's call the whole thing off - sometimes compromise is the answer."

"Swanee, how I love ya, how I love ya - passion is everything in art."

"The possibilities of rhythm are astounding."

"I hear music and rhythm in everything around me."

"Success is a public affair; failure is a private funeral."

"A memorable melody is worth a thousand harmonies."

"The more I compose, the more I realize I know nothing."

"Why shouldn't music be as varied as the moods of mankind?"

"I want to love, I want to work, I want to live my life."

"Patriotism is not always demonstrated by a general."

"The art of art is to express the inexpressible."

"Sometimes the simplest melodies are the most profound."

"You can say anything in music that you cannot say in words."

"Every man should study the history of music."