John Coltrane

“There is never any end... There are always new sounds to imagine; new feelings to get at.”

“Damn the rules, it's the feeling that counts.”

“I've found you've got to look back at the old things and see them in a new light.”

“Invest yourself in everything you do. There's fun in being serious.”

“I think music is an instrument. It can create the initial thought patterns that can change the thinking of people.”

“The real risk is not changing. I have to feel that I'm after something. If I make money, fine. But I'd rather be striving. It's the striving, man, it's that I want.”

“I want to speak to their souls.”

“Any time you play your horn, it helps you. If you get down, you can pick it up and it will cheer you up.”

“I think the main thing a musician would like to do is give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things that he knows of and senses in the universe.”

“My music is the spiritual expression of what I am — my faith, my knowledge, my being.”

“You can play a shoestring if you're sincere.”

“I want to be a force for real good. I know that there are bad forces, but I want to be the force which is truly for good.”

“All a musician can do is to get closer to the sources of nature, and so feel that he is in communion with the natural laws.”

“I never even thought about whether or not they understand what I'm doing... the emotional reaction is all that matters.”

“I start in the middle of a sentence and move both directions at once.”