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You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.

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
Duty
Help
Times
Artist
Helping
Reflect
Concerned

More quotes by Nina Simone

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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.
Nina Simone
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This may be a dream, but I'll say it anyway: I was supposed to be married last year, and I bought a gown. When I meet Nelson Mandela, I shall put on this gown and have the train of it removed and put aside, and kiss the ground that he walks on and then kiss his feet.
Nina Simone
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I would like a man now who is rich, and who can give me a boat - a sailboat. I want to own it and let him pay for it. My first love is the sea and water, not music. Music is second.
Nina Simone
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I look forward to doing my own show, not someone else's. That's always been my dream.
Nina Simone
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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.
Nina Simone
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Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.
Nina Simone
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I try to swim every damn day I can, and I've learned to scuba dive and snorkel.
Nina Simone
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When I choose material for an album all these songs I grew up with pour into my head.
Nina Simone
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I can't stand loud guitars that make me deaf.
Nina Simone
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It's a good time for black people to be alive.
Nina Simone
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This is the world you have made yourself, now you have to live in it.
Nina Simone
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Desegregation is a joke.
Nina Simone
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I tell you what freedom is to me: no fear.
Nina Simone
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From the beginning, it has been a no-no for a black man to touch a white woman.
Nina Simone
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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.
Nina Simone
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I'm sorry that I did not become the world's first black classic pianist. I think I would have been happier.
Nina Simone
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You have to learn to get up from the table when love is not being served.
Nina Simone
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I do not believe in mixing of the races. You can quote me. I don't believe in it, and I never have. I've never changed. I've never changed my hair. I've never changed my color, I have always been proud of myself, and my fans are proud of me for remaining the way I've always been. I married a white man one time, but he was a creep
Nina Simone
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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.
Nina Simone
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It is difficult to retain your standards with the pressure of trying to make money, which always has its rules...It's hard to walk the tightrope of doing what you think is your best and making money at it.
Nina Simone