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I Applied For A Scholarship To Curtis Institute Of Music In Philadelphia. I Knew I Was Good Enough, But They Turned Me Down. And It Took Me About Six Months To Realize It Was Because I Was Black. I Never Really Got Over That Jolt Of Racism At The Time.

-Nina Simone

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I Applied For A

Nina Simone

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I Applied For A Scholarship To Curtis Institute Of Music In Philadelphia. I Knew I Was Good Enough, But They Turned Me Down. And It Took Me About Six Months To Realize It Was Because I Was Black. I Never Really Got Over That Jolt Of Racism At The Time.

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The Worst Thing About That Kind Of Prejudice... Is That While You Feel Hurt And Angry And All The Rest Of It, It Feeds You Self-doubt. You Start Thinking, Perhaps I Am Not Good Enough.

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To Most White People, Jazz Means Black And Jazz Means Dirt, And That's Not What I Play. I Play Black Classical Music.

My Job Is Not Done. I Address My Songs Now To The Third World. I Am Popular All Over Asia And Africa And The Middle East, Not To Speak Of South Africa, Where I'm Trying To Go To See Nelson Mandela.

Music Is One Of The Ways By Which You Can Know Everything Which Is Going On In The World. You Can Feel... Through Music... Whew... You Can Feel The Vibrations Of Everybody In The World At Any Given Moment.

I Think The Rich Will Eventually Have To Cave In Too, Because The Economic Situation Around The World Is Not Gonna Tolerate The United States Being On Top Forever.

I Was Not Reluctant To Become A Singer. Singing Has Been An Activity I've Done My Whole Life, Without Thought.

I Don't Like To Go To Strange Places.

Every Day Has Its Emotional Difficulties. I Miss My Mother Whether I'm Singing Her Music Or Not.

I Tell You What Freedom Is To Me: No Fear.

I Had Spent Many Years Pursuing Excellence, Because That Is What Classical Music Is All About... Now It Was Dedicated To Freedom, And That Was Far More Important.

I Applied For A Scholarship To Curtis Institute Of Music In Philadelphia. I Knew I Was Good Enough, But They Turned Me Down. And It Took Me About Six Months To Realize It Was Because I Was Black. I Never Really Got Over That Jolt Of Racism At The Time.

Since I Was Three I've Been Playing The Piano. I've Been Onstage. My Mother Is An Evangelist And I Used To Play The Piano At Her Revival Meetings.

How Can You Be An Artist And Not Reflect The Times?

I'm A Real Rebel With A Cause.

I Feel More Alive Now Than I Ever Have In My Life. I Have A Chance To Live, As I've Dreamed.

I Can Read And Arrange, But I Can't Write.

I Don't Like Rap Music At All. I Don't Think It's Music. It's Just A Beat And Rapping.

Funk, Gospel, Blues Is All Out Of Slavery Times, Out Of Depression, Out Of Sorrow.

Since I Was Three I've Been Playing The Piano. I've Been Onstage.

It's Time To Take A Look At My Failures And Stop Calling Them Successes. Now I Can Start Working At Something That Can Use Me Best.

I Would Like You To Know, I Am A Doctor Of Music.

My Singing, If You Want To Call It That Is Merely Another Medium Of Expression. Just An Instrument I Play. That's How I See My Voice.

Life Is Short. People Are Not Easy To Know. They're Not Easy To Know, So If You Don't Tell Them How You Feel, You're Not Going To Get Anywhere, I Feel.

The Pressure Of Show Business Is On All The Time And Show Business Is A Fickle Business. Whatever Is Popular Now - That's All That Counts. I Have To Constantly Re-identify Myself To Myself, Reactivate My Own Standards, My Own Convictions About What I'm Doing And Why.

I Made Wine From The Lilac Tree/put My Heart In Its Recipe/it Makes Me See What I Want To See/and Be What I Want To Be

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By The Time I Was Eight I Was Taking Classical Piano Lessons And I Wanted To Be A Concert Pianist. But That Didn't Work Out. I Graduated From High School And My Formal Education Ended.

Birds Flying High You Know How I Feel Sun In The Sky You Know How I Feel Breeze Driftin' On By You Know How I Feel And This Old World Is A New World And A Bold World For Me And I'm Feeling Good I'm Feeling Good

This Is The World You Have Made Yourself, Now You Have To Live In It.

Jazz Is Not Just Music, It's A Way Of Life, It's A Way Of Being, A Way Of Thinking.

When A Child Is Gifted, People Try To Help That Child.

I Don't Like Drug Addicts And She Sounds Like A Cat.

Jazz Is A White Term To Define Black People. My Music Is Black Classical Music.

You Can't Be Different If You Look At It. Being Gifted Is Different. I Had That In My Piano Playing. I'm Very Thankful For That. I'm Very Aware Of That. The Style And What I Fed Is Just Me. I Never Worked At It. It Just Happened.

How Do You Explain What It Feels Like To Get On The Stage And Make Poetry That You Know Sinks Into The Hearts And Souls Of People Who Are Unable To Express It

It Doesn't Matter To Me What Is Going On Today Because My Music Encompasses Every Kind Of Mood That Exists In Human Beings. That's My Stick.

My Love Is Like The Wind And Wild Is The Wind. Give Me More Than One Caress, Satisfy My Hungriness. Let The Wind Blow Through Your Heart For Wild Is The Wind.

You've Got To Learn To Leave The Table When Love's No Longer Being Served".

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I Think If I Were Over There In America, Protest Music Would Be More Important. But I'm Not Going.

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We Have Ordered Things So Long In A Certain Way, We Are Numb. Nobody Dares Question It. This Is What Is Wrong, Symbolically, With America.

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Music Is The Center Of My Life.

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I Have A Cultured Manner Of Speaking.

Talent Is A Burden Not A Joy. I Am Not Of This Planet. I Do Not Come From You. I Am Not Like You.

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What Is Love But A Prelude To Sorrow...with Heartache Ahead For Your Goal.

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I Can't Stand Loud Guitars That Make Me Deaf.

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