Quotes: Thelonious Monk

"A genius is the one most like himself."

–– Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), American jazz pianist and composer 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 175. 

Quotes: Thelonious Monk

"Whatever you think can't be done, somebody will come along and do it."

–– Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), American jazz pianist and composer 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 175. 

Quotes: Thelonious Monk

"A note can be as small as a pin or as big as the world; it depends on your imagination."

–– Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), American jazz pianist and composer 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 175. 

Black History quotes: Thelonious Monk

"Don't play everything (or every time); let some things go by...What you don't play can be more important than what you do."

–– Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), American jazz pianist and composer 

Black History quotes: Thelonious Monk

"I made the wrong mistakes."

–– Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), American jazz pianist and composer

Quotes 225: Thelonious Monk

"Don't play everything or every time. Let some things go by. What you don't play can be more important than what you do play." 

–– Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), American jazz pianist and composer 

via Sketchbook #26, p. 22

Quotes: Thelonious Monk

"Don't play everything or every time. Let some things go by. What you don't play can be more important than what you do play." 

–– Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), American jazz pianist and composer 

Quotes: Monk + Wainwright

M  i  s  t  a  k  e  s

"I made the wrong mistakes." 

–– Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), American jazz pianist and composer 
after a disappointing performance


"A mistake is the most beautiful thing in the world. It is the only way you can get to some place you've never been before. I try to make as many as I can. Making a mistake is the only way you can grow." 

–– E.W. Wainwright, drummer (conversation with Nathaniel Klemp, 2001)