List of George Gershwin Quotes

All These Tales Of People Sitting Down And Composing Symphonies Just As Though They Were Writing A Letter Are Very Much Exaggerated; At Least, It Isn't That Way In My Work.

Gershwin's Tragedy Was Not That He Failed To Cross The Tracks, But Rather That He Did, And Once There In His New Habitat, Was Deprived Of The Chance To Plunge His Roots Firmly Into The New Soil.

An Entire Composition Written In Jazz Could Not Live.

The Extraordinary Thing About My Mother, She's So Modest About Me.

I Want To Say At Once That I Frankly Believe That Irving Berlin Is The Greatest Songwriter That Has Ever Lived.... His Songs Are Exquisite Cameos Of Perfection, And Each One Of Them Is As Beautiful As Its Neighbor. Irving Berlin Remains, I Think, America's Schubert.

Upper Berth, Lower Berth, That's The Difference Between Talent And Genius.

Porgy Is...an Interesting Example Of What Can Be Done By Talent In Spite Of A Bad Setup. With A Libretto That Should Never Have Been Accepted On A Subject That Should Never Have Been Chosen, A Man Who Should Never Have Attempted It Has Written A Work That Has A Considerable Power.

For Suddenly, I Saw You There And Through Foggy London Town The Sun Was Shining Everywhere.

It Took Me Three Weeks To Write The 'rhapsody In Blue.' I Had Always Wanted To Write Something Blue And Paul Whiteman Inspired.

Summertime And The Living Is Easy Fish Are Jumpin' And The Cotton Is High Oh, Your Daddy's Rich And Your Mama's Good Lookin' So Hush Little Baby Now Don't You Cry One Of These Mornin's You're Gonna Rise Up Singin' Then You'll Spread Your Wings And Take To The Sky But Til That Mornin' Ain't Nothin' Can Harm You With Your Daddy And Your Mammy Standin' By.

It Sounds Simple, Of Course, But Personally I Can Think Of No More Mentally Arduous Task Than Making Music.

A Skyscraper Is At The Same Time A Triumph Of The Machine And A Tremendous Emotional Experience, Almost Breath-taking. Not Merely Its Height But Its Mass And Proportions Are The Result Of An Emotion, As Well As Of Calculation.