On why he left fame behind in 1954: "It's like having a gangrenous arm. The only thing you can do is amputate it. Obviously you're gonna miss the arm, but if you don't cut it off you'll die." "You have no idea of the women I didn't marry." "Benny Goodman played clarinet. I played music." "I could never understand why people wanted to dance to my music. I made it good enough to listen to." "I did all you can do with a clarinet. Any more would have been less."