Herbie Hancock Quotes

It's not the style that motivates me, as much as an attitude of openness that I have when I go into a project.

~ Herbie Hancock

My hope is that the music will serve as a metaphor for the actions taken by the inhabitants of this wonderful planet as a call for world harmony on all levels.

~ Herbie Hancock

The cool thing is that jazz is really a wonderful example of the great characteristics of Buddhism and great characteristics of the human spirit. Because in jazz we share, we listen to each other, we respect each other, we are creating in the moment. At our best, we're non-judgmental.

~ Herbie Hancock

Back in the day for me was a great time in my life - I was in my 20s. Most people refer to their experiences in their twenties as being a highlight in their life. It's a period of time where you often develop your own way, your own sound, your own identity, and that happened with me, when I was with a great teacher - Miles Davis.

~ Herbie Hancock

Music happens to be an art form that transcends language.

~ Herbie Hancock

Music is the tool to express life - and all that makes a difference.

~ Herbie Hancock

It is people's hearts that move the age.

~ Herbie Hancock

It's part of life to have obstacles. It's about overcoming obstacles that's the key to happiness.

~ Herbie Hancock

In World War II, jazz absolutely was the music of freedom, and then in the Cold War, behind the Iron Curtain, same thing. It was all underground, but they needed the food of freedom that jazz offered.

~ Herbie Hancock

When I was six, my best friend's parents bought him a piano. My mother noticed that every time I would go to his house, the first thing I would say to him was 'Levester' - His name was Levester - I said, 'Levester, can I go play your piano?' So, on my 7th birthday, my parents bought me a piano.

~ Herbie Hancock

Being vulnerable is allowing yourself to trust. That's hard for a lot of people to do. They feel a lot more secure if they kind of put walls around themselves. Then they don't have to trust anybody but themselves.

~ Herbie Hancock

I don't see how we can have both the freedoms we had before and the safety net that we all need considering the way the world is today. And that's just because human beings can't trust each other. We've given in over and over to some of the darkest elements that exist in life itself.

~ Herbie Hancock

It's easy to get sidetracked with technology, and that is the danger, but ultimately you have to see what works with the music and what doesn't. In a lot of cases, less is more. In most cases, less is more.

~ Herbie Hancock

The thing that we possess, that machines don't, is the ability to exhibit wisdom.

~ Herbie Hancock

Without wisdom, the future has no meaning, no valuable purpose.

~ Herbie Hancock

You can practice to attain knowledge, but you can't practice to attain wisdom.

~ Herbie Hancock

World peace is no longer some pie-in-the-sky thing, because no single person or country is going to solve it on their own.

~ Herbie Hancock

As a human being, I'm concerned about the world that I live in. So, I'm concerned about peace. I'm concerned about - about man's inhumanity to man. I'm concerned about the environment.

~ Herbie Hancock

But I have to be careful not to let the world dazzle me so much that I forget that I'm a husband and a father.

~ Herbie Hancock

I'm always interested in looking forward toward the future. Carving out new ways of looking at things.

~ Herbie Hancock