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Attributed quotes — Paul Desmond

1924–1977 United States

← All quotes by Paul Desmond

12 quotes

I was unfashionable before anyone knew who I was.

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I tried practicing for a few weeks and ended up playing too fast.

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I could only write at the beach, and I kept getting sand in my typewriter.

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You're beginning to sound like a cross between David Frost and David Susskind, and that is a cross I cannot bear.

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I think I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to sound like a dry martini.

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I have won several prizes as the world’s slowest alto player, as well as a special award in 1961 for quietness.

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Not for me. If I want to tune everybody out, I just take off my glasses and enjoy the haze.

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I hate the way he writes. I kind of love the way he lives, though.

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Writing is like jazz. It can be learned, but it can’t be taught.

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Well, that I'm not playing better.

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Sometimes I get the feeling that there are orgies going on all over New York City, and somebody says, `Let's call Desmond,' and somebody else says,'Why bother? He's probably home reading the Encyclopedia Britannica.'

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On Ornette Coleman's playing

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Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Paul Desmond (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.