George Gershwin

I didn't even start playing the piano until I was about 13 or 14. I guess I must have had a little talent or whatever-you-call-it, but I practised regularly, and that's what counts.

It took me three weeks to write the 'Rhapsody in Blue.' I had always wanted to write something blue and Paul Whiteman inspired.

When I'm in my normal mood, music drips from my fingers.

Upper berth, lower berth, that's the difference between talent and genius.

Why should I limit myself to only one woman when I can have as many women as I want?

I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise.

All these tales of people sitting down and composing symphonies just as though they were writing a letter are very much exaggerated; at least, it isn't that way in my work.

The extraordinary thing about my mother, she's so modest about me.

It is always possible to create something original.

Writing music is not so much inspiration as hard work.

I want to say at once that I frankly believe that Irving Berlin is the greatest songwriter that has ever lived.... His songs are exquisite cameos of perfection, and each one of them is as beautiful as its neighbor. Irving Berlin remains, I think, America's Schubert.

All great composers of the past spent most of their time studying. Feeling alone won't do the job. A man also needs technique.

True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time.

Life is a lot like jazz... it's best when you improvise.