List #116: Favorite Miles Davis Quotations

List #116: Favorite Miles Davis Quotations (and possibly a comment by me)

1. "If you understood everything I said, you'd be me"
(I loved to end debate rebuttals with this)

2. “I’ll play it first and tell you what it is afterwards.”

3. “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.” (Attributed.)
(Actually from Dave Holland describing what Miles would say)

4. “A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I’m still doing it.”

5. “I really liked Wynton [Marsalis] when I first met him. He’s still a nice young man, only confused.”

6. “You know why I quit playing ballads? Cause I love playing ballads. ”
(sometimes this makes me feel better about the upcoming summer)

7. "Play it like you don't know how to play the guitar" (see #3. To John McGlaughlin during the In A Silent Way sessions).

8. “Do not fear mistakes. There are none.”
(Do or do not, there is no try?)

9. “At least one day out of the year all musicans should just put their instruments down, and give thanks too Duke Ellington.”

10. "That Silence is Loud"