Lionel Hampton quotes:

Every day I look forward to getting with my instruments, trying new things.

Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.

Seemed to me that drumming was the best way to get close to God.

I think I love it more as I get older because I keep getting better on drums, vibes and piano.

Music was our wife, and we loved her. And we stayed with her, and we clothed her, and we put diamond rings on her hands.

Playing is my way of thinking, talking, communicating.

Man, as long as people want to hear Jazz, I'll give it to them.

I worked hard learning harmony and theory when I was growing up in Chicago in the 1920s.

Music was our wife and we loved her. We stayed with her, clothed her and put diamond rings on her hands.

The secret is keeping busy, and loving what you do.

Playing gives me as much good feeling now as it did when I was a bitty kid.

I feel honored to have been a part of that dramatic change.

All art is communication of the artists' ideas, sounds, thoughts; without that no one will support the artist.

I'm motivated. The spirit hits me and I just keep going and don't stop. The more I play, the more I can invent, the more ideas come to me.

I always figured I'd still be playing at this age.

It's always Jazz. You can put a new dress on her, a new hat, but no matter what kind of clothes she's the same old broad.