Quotes from George Gershwin

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

Life is a lot like jazz. It's best when you improvise.

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

Jazz I regard as an American folk music; not the only one, but a very powerful one which is probably in the blood and feeling of the American people more than any other style of folk music.

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

I frequently hear music in the heart of noise.

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

It is always possible to create something original.

I didn't even start playing the piano until I was about 13 or 14. I guess I must have had a little talent or whatever-you-call-it, but I practised regularly, and that's what counts.

I like to think of music as an emotional science.

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

My people are Americans. My time is today.

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

Life is a lot like jazz… it's best when you improvise.

Life is a lot like jazz... it's best when you improvise.

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

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.

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

Out of my entire annual output of songs, perhaps two, or at the most three, came as a result of inspiration. We can never rely on inspiration. When we most want it, it does not come.

True music… must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans. My time is today.

The rhythms of American popular music are more or less brittle; they should be made to snap, and at times to crackle. The more sharply the music is played, the more effective it sounds.

I want to say at once that I frankly believe that Irving Berlin is the greatest songwriter that has ever lived.... His songs are exquisite cameos of perfection, and each one of them is as beautiful as its neighbor. Irving Berlin remains, I think, America's Schubert.

I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise.

Upper berth, lower berth, that's the difference between talent and genius.