Nat King Cole
There's just one thing I can't figure out. My income tax!Collection: Money
Primarily I'm a meat man, although once in a while I toy with a few vegetables.Collection: Food
I am famous because I am an African American jazz artist.Collection: Famous
I make no claim to being a business genius. You can make so much money in this business that it loses its value.Collection: Money
The people who know nothing about music are the ones always talking about it.Collection: Music
For years the Trio did nothing but play for musicians and other hip people. We practically starved to death.Collection: Death
Only time, education and plenty of good schooling will make anti-segregation work.Collection: Education
I'm an interpreter of stories. When I perform it's like sitting down at my piano and telling fairy stories.
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.
It's not the people in the South who create racial problems - it's the people who are governing.
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.
People don't slip. Time catches up with them.
The Supreme Court is having a hard time integrating schools. What chance do I have to integrate audiences?
The sheriff is at the cash register, and if I don't get a hit soon, I don't know what I'll do.
I'm in the music business for one purpose - to make money.
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.
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.
I may be helping to bring harmony between people through my music.
The only sport I'm not interested in is horse racing. That's because I don't know the horses personally.
I am an American citizen and feel I am entitled to the same rights as any other citizen.
Critics don't buy records. They get 'em free.
If I could read it, I could play it.
Get me well so I can get on television and tell people to stop smoking.
I can't bear to see myself even in movies. The feeling is complex. I can't stand the sight of myself.
I often wonder whether Negroes like myself who are pretty well known help out at all in breaking down barriers.
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.
The only prejudice I've found anywhere in TV is in some advertising agencies, and there isn't so much prejudice as just fear.
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.
You've got to change with the public's taste.
If you smile through your fear and sorrow, smile and maybe tomorrow you'll see the sun come shining through for you.Collection: Philosophy
Unforgettable in every way, and forever more, that's how you'll stay.Collection: Romantic
Smile and maybe tomorrow you'll see that life is still worth while if you just smileCollection: Maybe Tomorrow
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.Collection: Music
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.Collection: Song
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.Collection: Too Late
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.Collection: Singing
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.Collection: Father
Although it's been said many times, many ways...Merry Christmas to you!Collection: Merry Christmas
Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.Collection: Dark
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.Collection: Business
If you ever plan to motor west, travel my way, take the highway that is best. Get your kicks, on Route Sixty-six.Collection: Travel