Quotes by Ravi Shankar

About Ravi Shankar:

Ravi Shankar was an Indian musician and composer who was one of the best-known exponents of the sitar in the second half of the 20th century as a composer of Hindustani classical music.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I love the work of Matisse and Picasso, but I don't have enough millions to own one. And I don't really believe in owning art, anyway.

Ravi Shankar

I think musicians and actors have all these problems, because of the popularity and the opportunity.

Ravi Shankar

One single raga can be performed for two hours, three hours.

Ravi Shankar

Many people, especially young people, have started listening to sitar since George Harrison, one of the Beatles, became my disciple.

Ravi Shankar

To me, you know, from my childhood I always had a fascination for United States.

Ravi Shankar

I was invited for the first Woodstock. Actually, I started the programme.

Ravi Shankar

I appreciate very much Vilayat Khan, the sitar player, and Bismillah Khan, the shehnai player; and among the tabla players, of course, Alla Rakha, Kishan Maharaja, and all these people.

Ravi Shankar

I do think that my Indian classical audiences thought I was sacrificing them through working with George; I became known as the 'fifth Beatle.' In India, they thought I was mad.

Ravi Shankar

I was admired by all these hippies, and it was wonderful playing at Monterey and Woodstock, performing for half a million people.

Ravi Shankar

There are thousands of ragas, and they are all connected with different times of the day, like sunrise or night or sunset. It is all based on 72 of what we call 'mela' or scales. And we have principally nine moods, ranging from peacefulness to prayin...

Ravi Shankar

In our culture we have such respect for musical instruments, they are like part of God.

Ravi Shankar

'Ravi' means 'sun.' It's a Sanskrit original word. And 'Shankar' is another name of Shiva, one of the holy trinity god that we worship.

Ravi Shankar

The music that I have learned and want to give is like worshipping God. It's absolutely like a prayer.

Ravi Shankar

Pop changes week to week, month to month. But great music is like literature.

Ravi Shankar

I have great difficulty sitting in the middle of the night and writing. Everything I do comes spontaneous. Sometimes it takes a long time; sometimes it comes just like that.

Ravi Shankar

I believe in one thing: that anyone who is able to do something good for someone, I mean, should be praised.

Ravi Shankar

I have always had an instinct for doing new things. Call it good or bad, I love to experiment.

Ravi Shankar

When people say that George Harrison made me famous, that is true in a way.

Ravi Shankar

I have my own spiritual guru, and I'm so happy, and I feel so satisfied that I might appreciate many other famous gurus, but, you know, I am not attracted that way because I have found the person.

Ravi Shankar

Everybody has a right to like or dislike anything or anyone. From a flower to a flavor to a book or a composition but it is very sad that in our country we actually fight over such things in an unseemly manner.

Ravi Shankar

Author Bio

  • NameRavi Shankar
  • DescriptionIndiana musician and sitar player
  • AliasesPandit Ravi Shankar
  • BornApril 7, 1920
  • DiedDecember 11, 2012
  • CountryIndia
  • ProfessionComposer; Politician
  • AwardsCommandeur Des Arts Et Des Lettres?; Sangeet Natak Akademi Award; Knight Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire; Padma Vibhushan; Ramon Magsaysay Award; Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; Padma Bhushan; Banga Bibhushan; Bharat Ratna; Praemium Imperiale