Quotes from Herbie Hancock

In the past, there's always been one leader that has led the pack to development of the music.

So much of what I create has been due to the influence of Miles Davis and Donald Byrd, and so many of those that have passed on. Their music, their legacy lives on with the rest of us because we are so highly influenced by their experience and what they have given us.

I'm always looking to create new avenues or new visions of music.

Forget about trying to compete with someone else. Create your own pathway. Create your own new vision.

We need to put into practice the idea of embracing other cultures. We need to be shaping the kind of world we want to live in instead of waiting for someone else or some other entities to do it for us.

See, there were certain rules I'd always used, and people like Trane, they would break those rules.

When the suggestion was made that I might consider doing music of Joni Mitchell, I thought it was a fantastic idea. Joni, I admire not only for her music but for her person, because she's a person that really stands out for what she believes in.

Being vulnerable is allowing yourself to trust. That's hard for a lot of people to do. They feel a lot more secure if they kind of put walls around themselves. Then they don't have to trust anybody but themselves.

I think I was supposed to play jazz.

Jazz has borrowed from other genres of music and also has lent itself to other genres of music.

The spirit of jazz is the spirit of openness.

Music is the tool to express life - and all that makes a difference.

Music happens to be an art form that transcends language.

Jazz is about being in the moment.

Life is not about finding our limitations, it's about finding our infinity.

Creativity and artistic endeavors have a mission that goes far beyond just making music for the sake of music.

Of course, it's not the technique that makes the music; it's the sensitivity of the musician and his ability to be able to fuse his life with the rhythm of the times. This is the essence of music.

The value of music is not dazzling yourself and others with technique.

As a human being, I'm concerned about the world that I live in.So, I'm concerned about peace.I'm concerned about man's inhumanity to man. I'm concerned about the environment.

World peace is no longer some pie-in-the-sky thing, because no single person or country is going to solve it on their own.

I've been practising Buddhism for forty years, and that's what has led me to this path of discovering my own humanity and recognizing the humanity in others.

I've always been interested in science. I used to take watches apart and clocks apart, and there's little screws, and a little this and that, and I found out if I dropped one of them, that thing ain't gonna work.

One of the greatest experiences I ever had was listening to a conversation with Joni Mitchell and Wayne Shorter. Just to hear them talking, my mouth was open. They understand each other perfectly, and they make these leaps and jumps because they don't have to explain anything.

We need to move into a culture of peace. What I hope to promote is the idea that we all need each other and that the greatest happiness in life is not how much we have but how much we give. That's a wealth that's priceless. You can't buy compassion.