Nat 'King' Cole Quotes

I`m an interpreter of stories. When I perform it`s like sitting down at my piano and telling fairy stories.

The sheriff is at the cash register, and if I don`t get a hit soon, I don`t know what I`ll do.

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

It`s not the people in the South who create racial problems - it`s the people who are governing.

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.

If I could read it, I could play it.

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..

Primarily I`m a meat man, although once in a while I toy with a few vegetables.

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

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

The people who know nothing about music are the ones always talking about 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.

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

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

I`m in the music business for one purpose - to make money.

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.

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.

The only sport I`m not interested in is horse racing. That`s because I don`t know the horses personally.

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

Critics don`t buy records. They get `em free.

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

I can`t bear to see myself even in movies. The feeling is complex. I can`t stand the sight of myself.

You`ve got to change with the public`s taste.

I am famous because I am an African American jazz artist.

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.

There`s just one thing I can`t figure out. My income tax!

The only prejudice I`ve found anywhere in TV is in some advertising agencies, and there isn`t so much prejudice as just fear.

People don`t slip. Time catches up with them.