73 Quotes by Thelonious Monk

I played the wrong wrong notes.

Everyone is a genius at being themselves

After two takes you're imitating yourself.

If you really understand the meaning of be-bop, you understand the meaning of freedom.

The inside of the tune [the bridge] is the part that makes the outside sound good.

Its always night, or we wouldn't need light.

Anybody talented in any way - they're called eccentric.

Just because you're not a drummer doesn't mean you don't have to keep time.

I don't consider myself a musician who has achieved perfection and can't develop any further. But I compose my pieces with a formula that I created myself. Take a musician like John Coltrane. He is a perfect musician, who can give expression to all the possibilities of his instrument. But he seems to have difficulty expressing original ideas on it. That is why he keeps looking for ideas in exotic places. At least I don't have that problem, because, like I say, I find my inspiration in myself.