Quotes By Herbie Hancock

You would not exist if you did not have something to bring to the table of life.

Music happens to be an art form that transcends language.

Creativity shouldn't be following radio; it should be the other way around.

Jazz has borrowed from other genres of music and also has lent itself to other genres of music.

While knowledge may provide useful point of reference, it cannot become a force to guide the future.

See, there were certain rules I'd always used, and people like Trane, they would break those rules.

Nobody told me I was a child prodigy.

I've been a religious, spiritual person for a long time.

Getting the Oscar had the biggest impression on me.

I think there's a great beauty to having problems. That's one of the ways we learn.

I'm always looking to create new avenues or new visions of music.

Music is the tool to express life - and all that makes a difference.

You can practice to learn a technique, but I'm more interested in conceiving of something in the moment.

I feel a lot more secure about the directions I take, than I might have, had I not practiced Buddhism.

You can practice to attain knowledge, but you can't practice to attain wisdom.

We are eternally linked not just to each other but our environment.

It's not exclusive, but inclusive, which is the whole spirit of jazz.

The value of music is to be able to play one note at the right time in the right way.

It's not the style that motivates me, as much as an attitude of openness that I have when I go into a project.

In the past, there's always been one leader that has led the pack to development of the music.

But I have to be careful not to let the world dazzle me so much that I forget that I'm a husband and a father.

The music becomes something that is its own entity.

I'm always interested in looking forward toward the future. Carving out new ways of looking at things.

But, the truth is that everyone is somebody already.

When I was in my early teens, I remember coming to the conclusion that your life never ends.

Since time is a continuum, the moment is always different, so the music is always different.

Without wisdom, the future has no meaning, no valuable purpose.

Jazz is about being in the moment.

The value of music is not dazzling yourself and others with technique.

I try stuff. I synthesize what's of value with some of the other things I have at my disposal.