Tony Bennett: I have to say I owe my career to the master composers of...

It's the kind of turn that happened to the great country of Germany, when Nazis came over and created tragic things, and they had to be told off. And if we continue this kind of violence and accept it in our country, the rest of the world's going to really take care of us, in a very bad way.

Tony Bennett

germany gun country

I think if you have a passion for what you do then there are no limitations on how long or how much you can accomplish.

Tony Bennett

passion long thinking

I have an awful lot to learn. My dream is to get better and better as I get older.

Tony Bennett

get-better awful dream

If you follow your passion, you'll never work a day in your life.

Tony Bennett

work-you-love doing-what-you-love passion

I've taken stuff from people, too. You know though, if you steal from one person, you're just a thief. But if you steal from everyone, that's research.

Tony Bennett

thieves taken people

Regardless of religion or race or ethnic background we are all human and we are all on this planet together. So what better reason do you need to not tolerate any form of violence against another human being?

Tony Bennett

race together needs

Someday, when I'm awfully low, and the world is cold, I will feel a glow just thinking of you, and the way you look tonight.

Tony Bennett

thinking-of-you looks way

My goal as a creative person is to express truth and beauty in whatever I do

Tony Bennett

truth-and-beauty creative goal

"Benedetto" means the "blessed one" and I feel that I have truly been blessed.

Tony Bennett

blessed blessing mean

When the uncreative tell the creative what to do, it stops being art.

Tony Bennett

creative art

To work is to feel alive.

Tony Bennett

jazz music alive

I can't ask for more out of life, and the more I learn, the less I know.

Tony Bennett

asks knows life

The bottom line of any country is: what did we contribute to the world? We contributed Louis Armstrong.

Tony Bennett

lines country world

You can't teach it [jazz singing]. There's nobody who can teach you how to sing jazz. Either you know how to sing jazz, or you don't.

Tony Bennett

teach jazz singing

I have always loved jazz music and as a teen growing up in New York City and then later on as an adult have great memories of the jazz clubs that were all located on 52nd Street. I still catch as many jazz shows as I can when I am in New York. And when I perform, I have my jazz quartet by my side. Jazz musicians keep things spontaneous and very "live," which is the way I like to perform.

Tony Bennett

growing-up new-york memories

I knew very early that somehow I would sing and draw and paint my whole life.

Tony Bennett

whole-life draws paint

I consider myself a method singer, not a method actor. I applied method acting to singing.

Tony Bennett

singing actors acting

I'm still learning about music. The best way to learn is to listen to the audience. When you listen to the audience, they will tell you what they like. I wish these big corporations, instead of telling the audience what they should have, would listen.

Tony Bennett

empathy understanding should-have

I left my heart in San Francisco, high on a hill, it calls to me. To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars, the morning fog may chill the air, I don't care. My love waits there in San Francisco, above the blue and windy sea, when I come home to you, San Francisco , your golden sun will shine for me.

Tony Bennett

stars morning travel

I'm not the type of person who likes to look backwards. I've always felt compelled to move forward and I've never been one to dwell in the past. All the people I've met, all the places I've been, and all the things that I've done have simply been part of who I am.

Tony Bennett

who-i-am past moving

I have to say I owe my career to the master composers of the Great American Songbook who have written such high-quality songs - the best popular music ever composed.