Like a layer on a pearl, you can't specifically identify the irritant, the moment of the irritant, but at the end of the day, you know you have a pearl.

Quote by Ken Burns

Topics: Ken Burns Quotes

I think the problem with a lot of the fusion music is that it's extremely...

I think the problem with a lot of the fusion music is that it's extremely...

You can learn as much about the history from reading about the present as you...

You can learn as much about the history from reading about the present as you...

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 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 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...

In a sense I've made the same film over and over again. In all of...

In a sense I've made the same film over and over again. In all of...

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...

I have made all my films for my children with the exception of my first...

I have made all my films for my children with the exception of my first...

You know, you meet some people, and do a lot of interviews, and you come...

You know, you meet some people, and do a lot of interviews, and you come...

We're having a hard time understanding where jazz is going. What happened to jazz?

We're having a hard time understanding where jazz is going. What happened to jazz?

I don't use composers. I research music the way I research the photographs or the...

I don't use composers. I research music the way I research the photographs or the...

The flame is not out, but it is flickering.

The flame is not out, but it is flickering.

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...

Jazz is a very accurate, curiously accurate accompaniment to 20th century America.

Jazz is a very accurate, curiously accurate accompaniment to 20th century America.

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.

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...

I never, ever want to apologize for a film. If it's bad I'll say it's...

I never, ever want to apologize for a film. If it's bad I'll say it's...

I began to feel that the drama of the truth that is in the moment...

I began to feel that the drama of the truth that is in the moment...

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 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...