Ry Cooder quotes:

Los Angeles is not Mexico City, but we have many fine nightclubs and restaurants here. It is enough. One must not aim too high.

Musicians understand each other through means other that speaking.

These musicians, such as these Cubans in Havana, are a part of a scene that did produce great music and great musicians. They came from this tradition, so it's a good place to look. It's like prospecting: You gotta know where to look.

In oddball places, the electric guitar has been taken as an almost alien object - this weird, six-stringed instrument that fell down to earth and was then played loud but with traditional grace and intelligence

No second chances in the land of a thousand dances, the valley of ten million insanities.

Bad music can make you weak.

I always think you should push your envelope every chance you get.

I have to think that somewhere on some little island in the Pacific, there's someone's who's great, but I'm probably never going to hear him.

If you think you fit into a situation, it's worth trying.

Musicians are not so concerned with language.

Musicians communicate in other ways. That's just something you rely on.

Needless to say, you've got to have someone who can speak for you.

You can make records from now 'til doomsday, and there are something like 50,000 records released every year, but the public gets to hear very few of these. They just won't know. They might be great records, but how in the world is the public supposed to find out about them?

All the money in the world is spent on feeling good.

Beautiful tunes are all very good and fine, and great musicians are always great, but that alone isn't enough.

Everything you do is challenging, hopefully, because if it's not, it's boring.

I just feel that music is a great life, because it's very rewarding. It's a gratification. You do this for yourself, and you also do this for other people.

If you can't get yourself understood, you may have trouble, so you need some interpretation every now and again wherever you might be.

Most folks, when they see movies or hear records, need something that they find pulls them in, draws them in, and appeals to them beyond just the notes. For a record to be memorable and great, it has to have something of this quality. Exactly what that is, I don't know, but I think it has something to do with an atmosphere, an environment that is appealing and attractive. And the people that inhabit this environment have... almost a message for the rest of the world.

Once you feel that you've learned some skills and you know how to make records, the next thing is, "Do we ever get to make one that people will really like?" Because then we'll have something to do.

Some things I like to do better than other things, but I've got to say that in the end, the thing that makes it the most interesting for me is who you're with, you know? It's people that make the difference in just about any field, right?

Something has to happen between you and the public, some interface that lets the public in on what you're doing.

The environment is rarely put on tape, or if it is, it's so abstract that most people never realize it. They just don't know what it means. But if you can show it to them, then that's what becomes the main instrument.

There are those who make music and movies in a linear way: They plan them, they have a script. Of course, you have to have a script sometimes, but that alone isn't enough.

You have to be able to improvise and respond to what's going on around you. Then you might get a good piece of work done.

You have to be around people you trust; otherwise you can't do anything - you're afraid, you're paranoid, and you can't do any work.

You should try to do something if you think you can see your way clear.

You're not born with certain skills; you have to acquire them.