Garr over at Presentation Zen has a great article on the Lessons Jazz can give everyday life. These lessons might come from the music world but can be used in any situation where 2 people are connecting.
- “The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.” (Duke Ellington)
- “Writing is like jazz. It can be learned, but it can’t be taught.” (Paul Desmond)
- “Don’t bullshit… just play.” (Wynton Marsalis)
- “If they act too hip, you know they can’t play shit!” (Louis Armstrong)
- “Master your instrument. Master the music. And then forget all that bullshit and just play.” (Charlie Parker)
- “It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play.” (Dizzy Gillespie)
- “You can play a shoestring if you’re sincere.” (John Coltrane)
- “When people believe in boundaries, they become part of them.” (Don Cherry)
- “Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple.” (Charles Mingus)
- “I can’t stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession. If you can, then it ain’t music…” (Billie Holiday)
- “A great teacher is one who realizes that he himself is also a student and whose goal is not to dictate the answers, but to stimulate his students creativity enough so that they go out and find the answers themselves.” (Herbie Hancock)