Good history is a question of survival. Without any past, we will deprive ourselves of the defining impression of our being.

Quote by Ken Burns

Topics: Ken Burns Quotes

Louis Armstrong is quite simply the most important person in American music. He is to...

Louis Armstrong is quite simply the most important person in American music. He is to...

The way I work, the interview never becomes larger than the person being interviewed.

The way I work, the interview never becomes larger than the person being interviewed.

Wynton told us that Miles sold out, just wanted to make more money, just wanted...

Wynton told us that Miles sold out, just wanted to make more money, just wanted...

I can understand why some of these drummers and bass players become cult figures with...

I can understand why some of these drummers and bass players become cult figures with...

I enjoy total creative control right now. Nobody tells me to make it longer, shorter,...

I enjoy total creative control right now. Nobody tells me to make it longer, shorter,...

You need, as a historian, essential triangulation from your subject and the only way you...

You need, as a historian, essential triangulation from your subject and the only way you...

The flame is not out, but it is flickering.

The flame is not out, but it is flickering.

I have made a film about jazz that tries to look through jazz to see...

I have made a film about jazz that tries to look through jazz to see...

When you are editing, the final master is Aristotle and his poetics. You might have...

When you are editing, the final master is Aristotle and his poetics. You might have...

A jazz beat is a dynamic changing rhythm.

A jazz beat is a dynamic changing rhythm.

By its very nature, no one person can ever be the center of jazz.

By its very nature, no one person can ever be the center of jazz.

To say that an artist sells out means that an artist is making a conscious...

To say that an artist sells out means that an artist is making a conscious...

When a documentary filmmaker, working in the style that I do, suggests that there has...

When a documentary filmmaker, working in the style that I do, suggests that there has...

I think my expectations for myself are much more severe and much more direct. You...

I think my expectations for myself are much more severe and much more direct. You...

You don't work on something for six years and be blind to the myriad of...

You don't work on something for six years and be blind to the myriad of...

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution...

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution...

I read cover to cover every jazz publication that I could and in the New...

I read cover to cover every jazz publication that I could and in the New...

In most films music is brought in at the end, after the picture is more...

In most films music is brought in at the end, after the picture is more...

I am passionately interested in understanding how my country works. And if you want to...

I am passionately interested in understanding how my country works. And if you want to...

I subscribe to William Faulkner's' view that history is not just about what we were...

I subscribe to William Faulkner's' view that history is not just about what we were...