Dave Van Ronk

"Most of what I listen to now is mainstream jazz from 1935 right up to and including early bebop and cool jazz."

"They basically said that if I didn't show up for school they'd mark me present, they wouldn't send the truant officer after me. At 16 I enrolled in something called continuing education. Once a month I'd go out to Jamaica, but I didn't take it seriously."

"You can't be afraid of failure and you can't be afraid of success, because either one gets in the way of your work."

"Honesty is the cruelest game of all, because not only can you hurt someone - and hurt them to the bone - you can feel self-righteous about it at the same time."