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Fate is being kind to me. [...] Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.

— Duke Ellington

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Notes from Wikiquote

Ellington was then aged 66.

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Fate

More quotes by Duke Ellington

Roaming through the jungle of "oohs" and "ahs," searching for a more agreeable noise, I live a life of primitivity with the mind of a child and an unquenchable thirst for sharps and flats.

Music Is My Mistress (1973)

It's like an act of murder; you play with intent to commit something.

Playing "Bop" is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.

My band is my instrument more than the piano.

Every man prays in his own language.

Section title and eponymous song of A Concert of Sacred Music (1965)

All Duke Ellington quotes →

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One country, one constitution, one destiny.

Daniel Webster

We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.

John Lewis

Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.

William Jennings Bryan

“Destiny,” said John. “The ghastliest word a man can speak.”

Poul Anderson The Corridors of Time (1965)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Duke Ellington (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.