--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think all musicians should understand…" description: "\"I think all musicians should understand that you have chosen not to be a soldier but a musician.\" — Meshell Ndegeocello" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/meshell-ndegeocello-13776_chosen_i-think-all-musicians-should-understand_2216256.jpg" --- # I think all musicians should understand that you have… ![“I think all musicians should understand that you have chosen not to be a soldier but a musician.” quote by Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/meshell-ndegeocello-13776_chosen_i-think-all-musicians-should-understand_2216256.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/meshell-ndegeocello-13776_chosen_i-think-all-musicians-should-understand_2216256.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/meshell-ndegeocello-13776_chosen_i-think-all-musicians-should-understand_2216256.jpg) > “I think all musicians should understand that you have chosen not to be a soldier but a musician.” [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Choosing music over military service reflects a personal commitment to artistic expression and peace. **In simple terms:** Music is a conscious life choice. Key Takeaway Choose art over conflict. Themes peace artistic identity choice Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - career counseling - educational programs - peace activism - art workshops Key Concepts pacifism selfdetermination creative vocation Questions to Reflect On - What draws you to music over other vocations? - How does your choice impact your sense of purpose? A Different Perspective Societal pressure may discourage non‑traditional paths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Musician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musician/) [Musicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musicians/) [Soldier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soldier/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I think musicians are always supportive of each other because they want the groove to keep going on. They just basically want to play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-ronstadt/i-think-musicians-are-always-supportive-of-each-other-because-they/) [Linda Ronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-ronstadt/) > [Usually people think that it is the musicians who create the music, but in fact it is music who creates the musicians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fripp/usually-people-think-that-it-is-the-musicians-who-create-the-music/) [Robert Fripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fripp/) > [I think we musicians are emissaries. Every time we go before the public, we're there to make converts. We can either be ugly and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazel-scott/i-think-we-musicians-are-emissaries-every-time-we-go-before-the/) [Hazel Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazel-scott/) > [I think most musicians do like to have a laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-innes/i-think-most-musicians-do-like-to-have-a-laugh/) [Neil Innes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-innes/) > [I think musicians naturally gravitate toward music that sounds real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-barlow/i-think-musicians-naturally-gravitate-toward-music-that-sounds-real/) [Lou Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-barlow/) > [I'm always pulling and really feeding off of my inspirations. I think most musicians do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-trujillo/i-m-always-pulling-and-really-feeding-off-of-my-inspirations-i-think/) [Robert Trujillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-trujillo/) > [I think musicians should stay off television generally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-think-musicians-should-stay-off-television-generally/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Musicians understand each other through means other that speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ry-cooder/musicians-understand-each-other-through-means-other-that-speaking/) [Ry Cooder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ry-cooder/) > [Its just first finding the right musicians that understand it and they have to be excited about what theyre doing. Some musicians want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-dre-2/its-just-first-finding-the-right-musicians-that-understand-it-and/) [Dr Dre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-dre-2/) > [Musicians should understand that it is not just about creating one hit but to sustain it at the top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shankar-mahadevan/musicians-should-understand-that-it-is-not-just-about-creating-one/) [Shankar Mahadevan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shankar-mahadevan/) > [Music is of two kinds: one petty, poor, second-rate, never varying, its base the hundred or so phrasings which all musicians understand, a babbling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/music-is-of-two-kinds-one-petty-poor-second-rate-never-varying-its/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Like family, we are tied to each other. This is what all good musicians understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-joel/like-family-we-are-tied-to-each-other-this-is-what-all-good-musicians/) [Billy Joel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-joel/) > [I think some musicians can almost forget that the stage is something to do something on, even if that thing is standing still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-marr/i-think-some-musicians-can-almost-forget-that-the-stage-is-something/) [Johnny Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-marr/) > [Music is a kind of magical thing, and you can't make magic every time, but you try. Every once in a while it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-j-cale/music-is-a-kind-of-magical-thing-and-you-can-t-make-magic-every-time/) [J. J. Cale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-j-cale/) > [I think musicians like me are drawn to those older desks, not just because they're legend and lore but also because they do something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-grohl/i-think-musicians-like-me-are-drawn-to-those-older-desks-not-just/) [Dave Grohl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-grohl/) ## More by Meshell Ndegeocello > [God looks out for fools and babies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/god-looks-out-for-fools-and-babies/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [The blowing thing is something that you either have a predilection for or not. And I don't have that thing. It was just unsanitary.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/the-blowing-thing-is-something-that-you-either-have-a-predilection/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [I'm really good at melodic and sonic things, but I don't really think I have anything to say. But I really enjoy the puzzle-making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/i-m-really-good-at-melodic-and-sonic-things-but-i-don-t-really-think/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [If I would not be able to create music, I would create art or something else. Perhaps cooking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/if-i-would-not-be-able-to-create-music-i-would-create-art-or/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [I find myself wanting to make music at the dining room table or in the bedroom - I'm kind of a mobile writer, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/i-find-myself-wanting-to-make-music-at-the-dining-room-table-or-in/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [I'm pushing ahead on my own - you no longer need a large record company to make you a star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/i-m-pushing-ahead-on-my-own-you-no-longer-need-a-large-record-company/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [I'm becoming more and more apolitical - I think the most revolutionary thing you can do is just live your life and have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/i-m-becoming-more-and-more-apolitical-i-think-the-most-revolutionary/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [My favorite period is when we lived in the land of the three-minute song. The Motown thing - I thought they were genius in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/my-favorite-period-is-when-we-lived-in-the-land-of-the-three-minute/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [It's very limiting to us as a species, the concept of better-than/less-than. It just seems to be at its end. I'm like, this all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/it-s-very-limiting-to-us-as-a-species-the-concept-of-better-than-less/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [There's no hierarchy in suffering. I think songs that are transcendent are the ones where everyone can feel something from it, you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/there-s-no-hierarchy-in-suffering-i-think-songs-that-are-transcendent/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [Your government has problems...my government has problems. I can't be a judge. All I can do is be an ambassador of love. I'm a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/your-government-has-problems-my-government-has-problems-i-can-t-be-a/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [It's hard being bisexual, omnisexual, multisexual, whatever you want to call it, when people have their agenda and expect you to just represent their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/it-s-hard-being-bisexual-omnisexual-multisexual-whatever-you-want-to/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [Children are born with their own optimism. They have a clarity and a simplicity that we can only wish for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/children-are-born-with-their-own-optimism-they-have-a-clarity-and-a/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [Once you encounter people who are really testing the limits of kindness, that's when you start to build up a shield and close yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/once-you-encounter-people-who-are-really-testing-the-limits-of/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [Music is my only guide. I don't care if people pigeonhole me. Miles Davis is my hero. He covered Cindy Lauper and Michael Jackson,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/music-is-my-only-guide-i-don-t-care-if-people-pigeonhole-me-miles/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) [Explore all 49 Meshell Ndegeocello quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) ## More Chosen quotes > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [My Chosen Daughter, No one can define you without your permission. I want you to be so secure in who you are in Me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/god/my-chosen-daughter-no-one-can-define-you-without-your-permission-i/) God > [I would have let you shoot me without further ado! But it is not possible to hang the German Reichsmarschall! I cannot permit this.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-goring/i-would-have-let-you-shoot-me-without-further-ado-but-it-is-not/) [Hermann Goring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-goring/) > [People have a whole lot more choices than they've had in the past, and I have only earned the right to be considered -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-cole/people-have-a-whole-lot-more-choices-than-they-ve-had-in-the-past-and/) [Kenneth Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-cole/) > [You basically have a group of four spies who are chosen for a mission they feel for the fact of how competent they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-leblanc/you-basically-have-a-group-of-four-spies-who-are-chosen-for-a-mission/) [Matt LeBlanc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-leblanc/) > [ \[In science any model depends on a pre-chosen taxonomy\] a set of classifications into which we divide the enormous complexity of the real world...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/in-science-any-model-depends-on-a-pre-chosen-taxonomy-a-set-of/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [It seems that the whole world is beginning to decay, and that its putrefaction has chosen to spread outward from here, from the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/it-seems-that-the-whole-world-is-beginning-to-decay-and-that-its/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [At a time when painting itself often seems to be a threatened, even despised, form of artistic activity, Andrew Salgado emerges as a dazzlingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-lucie-smith/at-a-time-when-painting-itself-often-seems-to-be-a-threatened-even/) Edward Lucie-Smith > [Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep, where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-mazzini/love-your-country-your-country-is-the-land-where-your-parents-sleep/) [Giuseppe Mazzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-mazzini/) > [You'd chosen to be an upright biped on the surface of a small planet of a minor sun on the edge of a minor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/you-d-chosen-to-be-an-upright-biped-on-the-surface-of-a-small-planet/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [The Republicans have chosen to neglect young Americans who need assistance with the costs of higher education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-conyers/the-republicans-have-chosen-to-neglect-young-americans-who-need/) [John Conyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-conyers/) > [When adults come together to form an intimate relationship, each person releases into it unresolved issues from their trans-generational pool of unconscious fantasies. Partners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-raphael-leff/when-adults-come-together-to-form-an-intimate-relationship-each/) [Joan Raphael-Leff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-raphael-leff/) > [Here's my advice to you: don't marry until you can tell yourself that you've done all you could, and until you've stopped loving the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/here-s-my-advice-to-you-don-t-marry-until-you-can-tell-yourself-that/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I am responsible. Yes, I have chosen to be single.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadya-suleman/i-am-responsible-yes-i-have-chosen-to-be-single/) [Nadya Suleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadya-suleman/) Browse all 1,955 Chosen quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think all musicians should understand that you have chosen not to be a soldier but a musician.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Meshell Ndegeocello" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/i-think-all-musicians-should-understand-that-you-have-chosen-not-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chosen" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/i-think-all-musicians-should-understand-that-you-have-chosen-not-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/meshell-ndegeocello-13776_chosen_i-think-all-musicians-should-understand_2216256.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/meshell-ndegeocello-13776_chosen_i-think-all-musicians-should-understand_2216256.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/meshell-ndegeocello-13776_chosen_i-think-all-musicians-should-understand_2216256.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think all musicians should understand that you have chosen not to be a soldier but a musician.” — Meshell Ndegeocello", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Meshell Ndegeocello", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think all musicians should understand...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/i-think-all-musicians-should-understand-that-you-have-chosen-not-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/i-think-all-musicians-should-understand-that-you-have-chosen-not-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```