May 29, 2011
Quotable people
Years ago I started collecting quotes that stirred me in some fashion. I wrote a short little script that presented one of the quotes each time a page loaded or was refreshed. I’ve got that bit of script embedded in a couple websites and have now added it to this one. It’s been a while since I have run into something I felt I must add to my quotes collection.
Today I followed a link in my Reason rss feed to an obit about the jazz musician Gilbert Scott-Heron. I’ve been a casual jazz fan for decades but had never heard of this guy. Jazz musicians come from a different place in the universe and Scott-Heron is no exception. In reading the bio I found three, to me, awesome quotes. How can you not find this quotable?
“The way you get to know yourself is by the expressions on other people’s faces, because that’s the only thing that you can see, unless you carry a mirror about.”
The entire article was an eye-glass into the life and psyche of Scott-Heron. The last quote I grabbed, considering the article I was reading was his epitaph, was the most ironic.
“I have everything except a suitable conclusion.”
You can read the article here – New York Is Killing Me,The unlikely survival of Gil Scott-Heron. I would have love to have met his mother. That was one sharp lady. If you’d like to hear a sample of his music, try this link.