21 Quincy Jones Quotes That Are as True Now as They Were Then

Quincy Jones, born March 14, 1933 passed away on November 3, 2024. Quincy Jones was a renowned American record producer, songwriter, arranger, composer, and also a film and television producer. Throughout Jones’ career he would go on to receive numerous prestigious awards. These included 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Tony Award, and also nominations for seven Academy Awards in addition to four Golden Globe Awards. The man could do it all, and do it extremely well at that. We’re going to pay homage to Quincy Jones by taking a look at some of his most memorable quotes.

1. On seeing a task through

“Every day, my daddy told me the same thing. Once a task is just begun, never leave it till it’s done. Be the labour great or small, do it well or not at all.”

2. On sharing your talents

“Imagine what a harmonious world it could be if every single person, both young and old shared a little of what he is good at doing.”

3. On mistakes

“You make your mistakes to learn how to get to the good stuff.”

4. On the value of music

“Everybody, no matter what vocation they’re looking at, should add music as an essential to their curriculum. Music can be a very important part of your soul and your growth as a human being. It’s so powerful.”

5. On the Fender bass

“Without the Fender bass, there’d be no rock n’ roll or no Motown. The electric guitar had been waiting around since 1939 for a nice partner to come along. It became an electric rhythm section, and that changed everything.”

6. On American Idol

“I think the attraction of American Idol is about the basic human nature attitude that is, We can put you up there. But we can take you down.”

7. On humility

“I tell my kids and I tell proteges, always have humility when you create and grace when you succeed, because it’s not about you. You are a terminal for a higher power. As soon as you accept that, you can do it forever.”

8. On melodies

“Melody is king, and don’t you ever forget it. Lyrics appear to be out front, but they’re not; they’re just an accompanying factor. If they’re good, you’re really in good shape. Lyrics are written to be rewritten.”

9. On finding inspiration

“I was inspired by a lot of people when I was young. Every band that came through town, to the theater, or the dance hall. I was at every dance, every night club, listened to every band that came through, because in those days we didn’t have MTV, we didn’t have television.”

10. On music theory

“It’s easy to get next to music theory, especially between your peers and music classes and so forth. You just pay attention. I had a good ear, so I realized that printed music was just about reminding you what to play.”

11. On the soul of a country

“Every country can be defined through their food, their music and their language. That’s the soul of a country.”

12. On overindulgence

“We stole a box of honey jars one time and went out in the woods and took care of the whole box. I don’t think I touched honey again for 20 years. I never wanted to see honey again.”

13. On the school band

“I got in the school band and the school choir. It all hit me like a ton of bricks, everything just came out. I played percussion for a while, and stayed after school forever just tinkering around with different things, the clarinets and the violins.”

14. On working with the greats

“When you work with Ray Charles, Billy Eckstine and Frank Sinatra, and you tell them to jump without a net, you better know what you’re talking about. Thank God I was ready for it.”

15. On music in movies

“Music in movies is all about dissonance and consonance, tension and release.”

16. On producing albums

“When you produce an album, you’re dealing with it theatrically. It has to have a structure, and the inner response to that is that the ear loves it.”

17. On working with Ray Charles

“When I was 13, I started working in a nightclub with Ray Charles. That’s the greatest school in the world, the school of the streets. Ray taught me how to read in Braille. He was only two years older than me, but it was like he was 100 years older.”

18. On great singers with great songs

“A great song can make a terrible singer sound good, but a good singer – you put a great song on top of that, you’re really in great shape.”

19. On lyrical flow

“I’m a great believer in letting lyrics just flow out, wherever they come from.”

20. On troublemaking

“It’s amazing how much trouble you can get in when you don’t have anything else to do.”

21. On the nature of music

“If architecture is frozen music then music must be liquid architecture.”