John Coltrane Quotes & Sayings

The real risk is not
changing. I have to feel that I'm after something. If I make money, fine. But
I'd rather be striving. It's the striving, man, it's that I want. — John Coltrane

I never even thought about whether or not they understand what I'm doing ... the emotional reaction is all that matters as long as there's some feeling of communication, it isn't necessary that it be understood. — John Coltrane

Keep a thing happenin' all throughout. — John Coltrane

I'm into scales right now. — John Coltrane

When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something good for people, to help humanity free itself from its hang-ups. — John Coltrane

The first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes. — John Coltrane

Sometimes I think I was making music through the wrong end of a magnifying glass. — John Coltrane

When you are playing with someone who really has something to say, even though they may be otherwise quite different in style, there's one thing that remains constant. And that is the tension of the experience, that electricity, that kind of feeling that is a lift sort of feeling. No matter where it happens, you know when that feeling comes upon you, and it makes you feel happy. — John Coltrane

Working with Monk brought me close to a musical architect of the highest order. I felt I learned from him in every way
through the senses, theoretically, technically. I would talk to Monk about musical problems, and he would sit at the piano and show me the answers just by playing them. I could watch him play and find out the things I wanted to know. Also, I could see a lot of things that I didn't know about at all. — John Coltrane

I think I know what it is but don't ask me to play it — John Coltrane

After all the investigation, all of the technique-doesn't matter! Only if the feeling is right. — John Coltrane

I believe that man is here to grow into the fullest, the best that he can be. At least this is what I want to do. As I am growing to become whatever I become, this will just come out on the horn. Whatever that's going to be, it will be. I am not so much interested in trying to say what it's going to be. I don't know. I just know that good can only bring good. — John Coltrane

I'd like to point out to people the divine in a musical language that transcends words. I want to speak to their souls. — John Coltrane

God breathes through us so completely ... So gently we hardly feel it ... yet it is our everything. — John Coltrane

Whatever I'd say would be an understatement. I can only say my life was made much better by knowing him. He was one of the greatest people I've ever known, as a man, a friend, and a musician. — John Coltrane

And it's always been a thing with me to feel that all men know the truth, see? ... The truth itself doesn't have a name on it. To me. Each man has to find this for himself, I think. I believe that men are here to grow themselves into the best good that they can be ... I'm not interested in trying to say what it will be, I don't know. But I believe that good will only bring good. — John Coltrane

Over all, I think the main thing a musician would like to do is give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things that he knows of and senses in the universe ... Thats what I would like to do. I think thats one of the greatest things you can do in life and we all try to do it in some way. The musicians is through his music. — John Coltrane

There is never any end ... There are always new sounds to imagine; new feelings to get at. And always, there is the need to keep purifying these feelings and sounds so that we can really see what we've discovered in its pure state. — John Coltrane

My music is the spiritual expression of what I am - my faith, my knowledge, my being ... When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people, to help humanity free itself from its hangups ... I want to speak to their souls. — John Coltrane

The main thing a musician would like to do is to give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things he knows of and senses in the universe. — John Coltrane

There are so many things to be considered in making music. The whole question of life itself ... I know that I want to produce beautiful music, music that does things to people that they need. — John Coltrane

Don't ever get so big or important that you can not hear and listen to every other person. — John Coltrane

You can play a shoestring if you're sincere — John Coltrane

My goal is to live the truly religious life, and express it in my music. If you live it, when you play there's no problem because the music is part of the whole thing. To be a musician is really something. It goes very, very deep. My music is the spiritual expression of what I am - my faith, my knowledge, my being. — John Coltrane

I believe that men are here to grow themselves into best good that they can be - at least, this is what I want to do. — John Coltrane

I think the majority of musicians are interested in truth. — John Coltrane

That is one of the main causes of this arrogance: the idea of power. Then you lose your true power which is to be part of all, and the only way you can be part of all is to understand it. And when you don't understand, you have to go humbly to it. You don't go to school and say, 'I know what you're going to teach me'. — John Coltrane

Sometimes I wish I could walk up to my music as if for the first time, as if I had never heard it before. Being so inescapably a part of it, I'll never know what the listener gets, what the listener feels, and that's too bad. — John Coltrane

Working with Monk is like falling down a dark elevator shaft — John Coltrane

I start in the middle of a sentence and move both directions at once. — John Coltrane

One positive thought produces millions of positive vibrations. — John Coltrane

Invest yourself in everything you do. There's fun in being serious. — John Coltrane

During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music. I feel this has been granted through His grace. ALL PRAISE TO GOD. — John Coltrane

Damn the rules, it's the feeling that counts. — John Coltrane

Any time you play your horn, it helps you. If you get down, you can help yourself even in a rock 'n' roll band. — John Coltrane

The reason I play so many sounds, maybe it sounds angry, is because I'm trying so many things at one time, you see? I haven't sorted them out. I have a whole bag of things that I'm trying to work through and get the one essential. — John Coltrane

I've always felt that even though a man was not a Christian, he still has to know the truth some way or another. Or if he was a Christian, he could know the truth. The truth itself doesn't have any name on it to me. And each man has to find this for himself, I think. — John Coltrane

I want to be a force for real good. In other words. I know that there are bad forces, forces that bring suffering to others and misery to the world, but I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good. — John Coltrane

We should pray and seek for knowledge which would enable us to portray and project the things we love in music, in a way that might wholly or in some part, be appreciated as having been conceived and composed or performed and presented with dedication and in positive taste — John Coltrane

Change is inevitable in music - things change. — John Coltrane

I would like to bring to people something like happiness. I would like to discover a method so that if I want it to rain, it will start right away to rain. If one of my friends is ill, I'd like to play a certain song and he will be cured; when he'd be broke, I'd bring out a different song and immediately he'd receive all the money he needed. — John Coltrane

If you're bourgeois, money is it. It's all the questions and all the answers. Ain't no E-flat or color blue, only $12.98 or $1,000. If it isn't money, it isn't nothing. — John Coltrane

All a musician can do is to get closer to the sources of nature, and so feel that he is in communion with the natural laws. — John Coltrane

I think I was first awakened to musical exploration by Dizzy Gillespie and Bird. It was through their work that I began to learn about musical structures and the more theoretical aspects of music. — John Coltrane

Considering the great heritage in music that we have - the work of the giants of the past, the present, and the promise of those who are to come - I feel that we have every reason to face the future optimistically. — John Coltrane