Nat King Cole Quotes & Sayings

I'm not playing for other musicians. We're trying to reach the guy who works all day and wants to spend a buck at night. We'll keep him happy. — Nat King Cole

For years the Trio did nothing but play for musicians and other hip people. We practically starved to death. — Nat King Cole

I got the message. All of us get the message, sooner or later. If you get it before it's too late or before you're too old, you'll pull through all right. — Nat King Cole

I often wonder whether Negroes like myself who are pretty well known help out at all in breaking down barriers. — Nat King Cole

The sheriff is at the cash register, and if I don't get a hit soon, I don't know what I'll do. — Nat King Cole

Get me well so I can get on television and tell people to stop smoking. — Nat King Cole

I felt something impossible for me to explain in words. Then, when they took her away, it hit me. I got scared all over again and began to feel giddy. Then it came to me ... I was a father. — Nat King Cole

Critics don't buy records. They get 'em free. — Nat King Cole

Although it's been said many times, many ways ... Merry Christmas to you! — Nat King Cole

I'm in the music business for one purpose - to make money. — Nat King Cole

The people who know nothing about music are the ones always talking about it. — Nat King Cole

If you smile through your fear and sorrow, smile and maybe tomorrow you'll see the sun come shining through for you. — Nat King Cole

I am famous because I am an African American jazz artist. — Nat King Cole

The only sport I'm not interested in is horse racing. That's because I don't know the horses personally. — Nat King Cole

There's just one thing I can't figure out. My income tax! — Nat King Cole

People don't slip. Time catches up with them. — Nat King Cole

The Supreme Court is having a hard time integrating schools. What chance do I have to integrate audiences? — Nat King Cole

I'm a businessman. I work for business people. The kind of thing they say is: Now we've sold a lot of records, let's sell some more. — Nat King Cole

When I first organized the King Cole Trio back in 1937, we were strictly what you would call an instrumental group. To break the monotony, I would sing a few songs here and there between the playing. I sang things I had known over the years. I wasn't trying to give it any special treatment, just singing. I noticed thereafter people started requesting more singing, and it was just one of those things. — Nat King Cole

I'm a musician at heart, I know I'm not really a singer. I couldn't compete with real singers. But I sing because the public buys it. — Nat King Cole

I may be helping to bring harmony between people through my music. — Nat King Cole

Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark. — Nat King Cole

If I could read it, I could play it. — Nat King Cole

Music is emotional, and you may catch a musician in a very unemotional mood or you may not be in the same frame of mind as the musician. So a critic will often say a musician is slipping. — Nat King Cole

The only prejudice I've found anywhere in TV is in some advertising agencies, and there isn't so much prejudice as just fear. — Nat King Cole

I can't bear to see myself even in movies. The feeling is complex. I can't stand the sight of myself. — Nat King Cole

I am an American citizen and feel I am entitled to the same rights as any other citizen. — Nat King Cole

I'm an interpreter of stories. When I perform it's like sitting down at my piano and telling fairy stories. — Nat King Cole

Only time, education and plenty of good schooling will make anti-segregation work. — Nat King Cole

Unforgettable in every way, and forever more, that's how you'll stay. — Nat King Cole

I ... started out to become a jazz pianist; in the meantime I started singing and I sang the way I felt and that's just the way it came out. — Nat King Cole

Primarily I'm a meat man, although once in a while I toy with a few vegetables. — Nat King Cole

I make no claim to being a business genius. You can make so much money in this business that it loses its value. — Nat King Cole

I'm proud of our court. It knocks back a lot of the propaganda the Communists put out about the way America treats her Negroes. — Nat King Cole

The whites come to applaud a Negro performer just like the colored do. When you've got the respect of white and colored, you can ease a lot of things. — Nat King Cole

You've got to change with the public's taste. — Nat King Cole

It's not the people in the South who create racial problems - it's the people who are governing. — Nat King Cole

I was a guinea pig for some hoodlums who thought they could hurt me and frighten me and keep other Negro entertainers from the South. — Nat King Cole