55 Best Nina Simone Quotes From The American Singer-Songwriter

Eunice Kathleen Waymon, a.k.a. Nina Simone, had a chart-breaking history as an American artist.

Nina Simone, a child prodigy who started her journey at the age of three with her prowess on piano, which started her ascension to fame. This American singer-songwriter and a civil rights activist was really phenomenal and outgoing.

Nina Simone had a fascination with songs and tunes since she was three, and her got first album, 'Little Girl Blue' in 1959. She got famous in the 1980s from an advertisement, where her song, 'My Baby Just Cares For Me' was used, and this ad took her stardom to another level. Here is a collection of Nina Simone quotes to mirror her dedication and talent towards her passion. These Nina Simone quotes will soothe your soul too.

If you love what you read, then check out Billie Holiday quotes and Duke Ellington quotes.

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Nina Simone quotes are full of cultural significance and inspiration to imbibe.

1. "I'll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear. I mean really, no fear!"

- Nina Simone.

2. "My daughter is in more competition with me. I never wanted to be bigger than my mother or to challenge her."

- Nina Simone.

3. "From the beginning, it has been a no-no for a black man to touch a white woman."

- Nina Simone.

4. "I came to expect despair every time I set foot in my own country, and I was never disappointed."

- Nina Simone.

5. "All the time, there was the weight of my community's expectations on my shoulders."

- Nina Simone.

6. "Having as little to do with human beings as possible - in some weird way, I'm at peace."

- Nina Simone.

7. "You don't have to live next to me

Just give me my equality."

- Nina Simone, 'Mississippi Goddamn'.

8. "To move the audience to make them conscious of what has been done to my people around the world."

- Nina Simone.

9. "If I get an idea I put it on tape and somebody else writes it out."

- Nina Simone.

10. "I know I'm different, but I don't think about it."

- Nina Simone.

11. "My first love is the sea and water, not music. Music is second."

- Nina Simone.

12. "I believe in racial memory too. I'm sure I've got ancient African blood in me that has something to do with what I am."

- Nina Simone.

13. "I think if I were over there in America, protest music would be more important. But I'm not going."

- Nina Simone.

Nina Simone quotes have pearls of love studded, and so these Nina Simone love quotes are something you can't get enough of.

14. "You don't know what it's like to love somebody the way I love you."

– Nina Simone, 'To Love Somebody'.

15. "The Look Of Love

Is saying so much more than just words could ever say."

- Nina Simone.

16. "For my love is like the wind, and wild is the wind."

– Nina Simone, 'Wild Is The Wind'.

17. "A certain kind of light,

It's never shown on me;

I want my whole life to be,

Lived with you."

– Nina Simone, 'To Love Somebody'.

18. "Lilac wine is sweet and heady, like my love, Lilac wine, I feel unsteady, like my love..."

– Nina Simone, 'Lilac Wine'.

19. "Don't you know I have faults like anyone?"

– Nina Simone, 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'.

20. "I would like a man now who is rich and who can give me a boat - a sailboat."

- Nina Simone.

21. "Love me or leave me and let me be lonely, You won't believe me, but I love you only..."

- Nina Simone, 'Love Me Or Leave Me'.

22. "You've got to learn to leave the table when love' s no longer being served..."

– Nina Simone, 'You've Got To Learn'.

23. "I wanna stay here with you forever."

- Nina Simone, I Loves You, Porgy'.

24. "You won't believe me but I love you only."

– Nina Simone, 'Love Me Or Leave Me'.

25. "Just say I love him loved him from the start

And tell him that I'm yearning to say what's in my heart."

– Nina Simone, 'Just Say I Love Him'.

26. "The way of pocketing your pride, Sometimes face humiliation."

– Nina Simone, 'You've Got To Learn'.

Quotation about music and life talks about the journey of her music. These Nina Simone Song quotes and Nina Simone lyric quotes are all full of life and soulful elements.

27. "It was always Marx, Lenin, and revolution - real girl's talk."

- Nina Simone, 'I Put A Spell On You: The Autobiography Of Nina Simone'.

28. "As a political weapon, it has helped me for 30 years defend the rights of American blacks and third-world people all over the world, to defend them with protest songs."

- Nina Simone.

29. "Let the wind blow through your heart,

For wild is the wind."

- Nina Simone, 'Wild Is The Wind'.

30. "Sometimes I sound like gravel, and sometimes I sound like coffee and cream."

- Nina Simone.

31. "I think that the artists who don't get involved in preaching messages probably are happier - but you see, I have to live with Nina, and that is very difficult."

- Nina Simone.

32. "Greed has driven the world crazy. And I think I'm lucky that I have a place over here that I can call home."

- Nina Simone.

33. "Anything human can be felt through music, which means that there is no limit to the creating that can be done with music."

- Nina Simone.

34. "Life is short. People are not easy to know. They're not easy to know, so if you don't tell them how you feel, you're not going to get anywhere, I feel."

- Nina Simone.

35. "Once I understood Bach's music, I wanted to be a concert pianist. Bach made me dedicate my life to music, and it was that teacher who introduced me to his world."

- Nina Simone.

36. "I had spent many years pursuing excellence because that is what classical music is all about... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important."

- Nina Simone.

37. "Young, gifted, and black. Oh, what a lovely precious dream."

- Nina Simone, 'To Be Young, Gifted And Black'.

38. "And this old world is a new world / And a bold world."

- Nina Simone, 'To Be Young, Gifted And Black'.

39. "You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times."

- Nina Simone.

40. "Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music."

- Nina Simone.

41. "I wasn't a jazz player, but a classical musician, and I improvised arrangements of popular songs using classical motifs."

- Nina Simone.

Nina Simone quotes illustrate her true determination towards her passion. These Nina Simone quotes are all famous and are linked with the empowerment of blacks and protests during the American civil rights movement.

42. "Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking."

- Nina Simone.

43. "This is the world you have made yourself; now you have to live in it."

- Nina Simone, 'I Put A Spell On You: The Autobiography Of Nina Simone'.

44. "I was always a politician from the day the civil rights people chose me as their protest singer."

- Nina Simonne.

45. "Music is an art and art has its own rules."

- Nina Simone.

46. "I feel more alive now than I ever have in my life. I have a chance to live, as I've dreamed."

- Nina Simone.

47. "How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it."

- Nina Simone.

48. "I try to swim every damn day I can, and I've learned to scuba dive and snorkel."

- Nina Simone.

49. "How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?"

- Nina Simone.

50. "Talent is a burden, not a joy. I am not of this planet. I do not come from you. I am not like you."

- Nina Simone.

51. "I'm a real rebel with a cause."

- Nina Simone.

52. "But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good; oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood..."

- Nina Simone, 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'.

53. "I didn't get interested in music. It was a gift from God."

- Nina Simone.

54. "There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were."

- Nina Simone.

55. "They don't know that I'm dead, and my ghost is holding on."

- Nina Simone.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Nina Simone quotes then why not take a look at Ella Fitzgerald quotes, or [jazz quotes]