When I was about five or seven years old my mother was placed in a mental institution and so we were with… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
Some summers my father would take us down to visit our grandmother in Louisville, who was an ex-slave, Susan Jones, and she… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
My father was a carpenter, a very good carpenter. He also worked for the Jones boys. They were not family members, we… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
I lost my mother when I was 7 and they put her in a mental hospital. My brother and I watched her… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
You want your parents to say, "Hey, I'm proud of you." When you don't hear that, you learn to compensate. You say,… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
It's amazing how much trouble you can get in when you don't have anything else to do. — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
It's easy to get next to music theory, especially between your peers and music classes and so forth. You just pay attention. I had… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
It slaps your dignity just right. I loved the idea of these proud, dignified black men, and I saw the older ones wounded, and… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
I was inspired by a lot of people when I was young. Every band that came through town, to the theater, or the dance… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
“The tragedy of Tupac is that his untimely passing is representative of too many young black men in this country....If we had lost Oprah… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
Thank God, 50 years ago I learned that our entire business is all based on two things; a great song and a great story.… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
Sidney Poitier and Sidney Lumet were instrumental in helping me get started as the first black composer to get name credit for movie scores. — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
A person's age can be determined by the degree of pain he experiences when he comes in contact with a new idea. — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
I met Ray Charles at 14, and he was 16. But he was like a hundred years older than me. — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
I got to trumpet, finally. That's why I love to write for brass, and [Count] Basie and [Frank] Sinatra and all that stuff, 'cause… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image