Wayne Shorter Quotes

“You know the actor John Garfield? In one movie he walked up to this train station, the ticket booth, and the guy says, 'Yes, where are you going?' And he says, 'I want a ticket to nowhere.' I thought: that's it. The freedom to do that. I want a ticket to nowhere.”

— Wayne Shorter

“You're like the girl who left her shadow in the drawer, but when she went to get it, it wasn't there.”

— Wayne Shorter

“Music is interior decoration.”

— Wayne Shorter

“Jazz shouldn't have any mandates. Jazz is not supposed to be something that's required to sound like jazz. For me, the word 'jazz' means, 'I dare you.'”

— Wayne Shorter

“If all you have is music, then you don't have music”

— Wayne Shorter

“I always think of music as interior decoration. So, if you have all kinds of music, you are fully decorated!”

— Wayne Shorter

“Your humanity is your instrument.”

— Wayne Shorter

“Composing is improvisation slowed down.”

— Wayne Shorter

“Go out on the stage as a human being and do not be afraid to show struggle in your music. It's a struggle in life and then struggle and then victory.”

— Wayne Shorter

“Dealing with the unknown, the unexpected, is a reflection for me musically of what's happening in the world, because people are learning how to dialog with each other without any past strategy or any kind of formula from the past.”

— Wayne Shorter

No one really knows how to deal with the unexpected. How do you rehearse the unknown?

— Wayne Shorter

“The arts can open the door to the imagination, pushing the envelope of how peace can be created. It takes courage to take this kind of risk, and courage is what we all need to create a better world.”

— Wayne Shorter

“A series of vibrations. What does it matter, the source of the catalyst?”

— Wayne Shorter

Play and write music the way you want the world to be.

— Wayne Shorter

“I'm learning more about life when I'm playing too, and writing music. I'm learning more about life, the connection.”

— Wayne Shorter

“To hell with the rules. I'm going for the unknown.”

— Wayne Shorter

“In an inconspicuous way, Gretchen Parlato knows
how to play the same instrument that Frank Sinatra played.
There's no one out there like Gretchen.”

— Wayne Shorter

“Clouds float in the same pattern only once.”

— Wayne Shorter

“It's making a statement about what life is, really. And I'm going to end the line with it.”

— Wayne Shorter