#so

My last public performance for money was in 1967. For free, it was 1972, with the exception of two little one-shot, one-song things. But that's just for friends, out of friendship for the people involved, and also because it was fun. ↗

— Tom Lehrer

#because #exception #for the people #free #friends

The Army has carried the American ideal to its logical conclusion. Not only do they prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, creed and color, but also on ability. ↗

— Tom Lehrer

#also #american #army #carried #color

You can't be satirical and not be offensive to somebody. ↗

— Tom Lehrer

#satirical #somebody #you

There are also two kinds of truths: truth of reasoning and truths of fact. Truths of reasoning are necessary and their opposite is impossible; those of fact are contingent and their opposite is possible. ↗

— Gottfried Leibniz

#contingent #fact #impossible #kinds #necessary

I felt black. I was as far as I was concerned. And I wanted to be black for lots of reasons. They were better musicians, they were better athletes, they were not uptight about sex, and they knew how to enjoy life better than most people. ↗

— Jerry Leiber

#as far as #athletes #better #black #concerned

Irving Berlin was the greatest songwriter of all time. I was in awe of him. But his music wasn't my music. My music was the blues. ↗

— Jerry Leiber

#berlin #blues #greatest #him #his

Our songs did not transcend being R&B hits. They were R&B hits that white kids were attracted to. And if people bought it, it became rock & roll. That's marketing. Why couldn't it still be R&B? The bass pattern didn't change. The song didn't change. It was still 'Yakety Yak' and 'Searchin'.' ↗

— Jerry Leiber

#attracted #bass #became #being #bought

The early influences, in many ways, were in Baltimore. I was passing open windows where there might be a radio playing something funky. In the summertime, sometimes there'd be a man sitting on a step, playing an acoustic guitar, playing some kind of folk blues. The seed had been planted. ↗

— Jerry Leiber

#acoustic guitar #baltimore #be a man #been #blues

The Jewish background is not that far from the black groove. Blacks are downtrodden, Jews are downtrodden, therefore they have something in common in that affliction. Being downtrodden often makes one more empathetic and sympathetic. ↗

— Jerry Leiber

#background #being #black #blacks #common

Indeed every monad must be different from every other. For there are never in nature two beings, which are precisely alike, and in which it is not possible to find some difference which is internal, or based on some intrinsic quality. ↗

— Gottfried Leibniz

#based #be different #beings #difference #different