William Christopher Handy Quotes

18 quotes in 292 categories

• In the South of long ago whenever a new man appeared for work in any of the laborers gangs, he would be asked if he…
• If my serenade of song and story should serve as a pillow for some composer's head, as yet perhaps unborn, to dream and build on…
• You'll never miss the water 'til the well runs dry.
• A lean, loose-jointed Negro had commenced plunking a guitar beside me while I slept. His clothes were rags; his feet peeped out of his shoes.…
• The blues - the sound of a sinner on revival day.
• Where the Tennessee River, like a silver snake, winds her way through the clay hills of Alabama, sits high on these hills, my home town,…
• My big ears indicated a talent for music. This thrilled me.
• The name of my ailment was longing, and it was not cured till I finally went to the department store and counted out the money…
• You've got to appreciate the things that come from the art of the Negro and from the heart of the man farthest down.
• Whenever I heard the song of a bird and the answering call of its mate, I could visualize the notes in scale, all built up…
• With a guitar I would be able to express the things I felt in sounds.
• I knew the whistle of each of the river boats on the Tennessee.
• I think America concedes that true American music has sprung from the Negro.
• Setting my mind on a musical instrument was like falling in love. All the world seemed bright and changed.
• Saving was slow and painful.
• Nature was my kindergarten.
• Life is like a trumpet - if you don't put anything into it, you don't get anything out of it.
• Life is something like a trumpet. If you don't put anything in, you won't get anything out.

Browse William Christopher Handy Quotes by Category