Thelonious Monk Music Quotations

Jazz is freedom. You think about that.

I don't have a definition of Jazz. You're just supposed to know it when you hear it.

If you really understand the meaning of be-bop, you understand the meaning of freedom.

After two takes you're imitating yourself.

I compose my pieces with a formula that I created myself.

I don't know where jazz is going. Maybe it's going to hell. You can't make anything go anywhere. It just happens.

A note can be as small as a pin or as big as the world, it depends on your imagination.

Man, that cat [Ornette Coleman] is nuts.

I find my inspiration in myself.