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I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.

Nina Simone

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Nina Simone
Age: 75 †
Born: 1933
Born: February 21
Died: 2008
Died: April 21
Composer
Jazz Pianist
Recording Artist
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Tryon
North Carolina
Eunice Kathleen Waymon
High Priestess of Soul
Important
Pursuing
Years
Classical
Dedicated
Excellence
Spent
Freedom
Music
Many

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There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.
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From the beginning, it has been a no-no for a black man to touch a white woman.
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Desegregation is a joke.
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I think the rich are too rich and the poor are too poor. I don't think the black people are going to rise at all I think most of them are going to die.
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You have to learn to get up from the table when love is not being served.
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Anything human can be felt through music, which means that there is no limit to the creating that can be done with music. You can take the same phrase from any song and cut it up so many different ways - it's infinite. It's like God... you know?
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I had heard blues and jazz all my life but I was never aware that it was associated with nightclubs and drinking.
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I can't stand loud guitars that make me deaf.
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To be young, gifted and black!
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I tell you what freedom is to me: no fear.
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I only knew classical music, which to me was the only true music. The only way I could survive at the bar was to mix the classical music with popular songs, and that meant I had to sing. What happened was that I discovered I had a voice plus the talent to mix classical music together with more popular songs, which at the time I detested.
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That's a very high goal to have, study eight hours a day to be a concert pianist.
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Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking.
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I was not reluctant to become a singer. Singing has been an activity I've done my whole life, without thought.
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I believe in racial memory too. I'm sure I've got ancient African blood in me that has something to do with what I am.
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Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.
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I don't like to go to strange places. I was in Italy for about five hours on my way to Africa.
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Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.
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The Beatles are lucky, very lucky. But what has happened to them has nothing to do with them, in a sense. They came along at the right time. Attention was focused on them. They've had the chance to grow in almost any direction they wanted. Very lucky. They are not exceptionally talented.
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I feel what they feel. And people who listen to me know that, and it makes them feel like they're not alone.
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