Quotes from William Christopher Handy

You've got to appreciate the things that come from the art of the Negro and from the heart of the man farthest down.

My big ears indicated a talent for music. This thrilled me.

I think America concedes that true American music has sprung from the Negro.

Life is like a trumpet - if you don't put anything into it, you don't get anything out of it.

Where the Tennessee River, like a silver snake, winds her way through the clay hills of Alabama, sits high on these hills, my home town, Florence.

I knew the whistle of each of the river boats on the Tennessee.

Whenever I heard the song of a bird and the answering call of its mate, I could visualize the notes in scale, all built up within my consciousness as a natural symphony.

The name of my ailment was longing, and it was not cured till I finally went to the department store and counted out the money in small coins before the dismayed clerk. When I came to the house, I held up the instrument before the eyes of the astonished household.

Setting my mind on a musical instrument was like falling in love. All the world seemed bright and changed.

Saving was slow and painful.

Life is like a trumpet - if you don't put anything into it, you don't get anything out of it.

Life is something like a trumpet. If you don't put anything in, you won't get anything out.

The blues - the sound of a sinner on revival day.

With a guitar I would be able to express the things I felt in sounds.

Nature was my kindergarten.