September 23: Notable Births, with Quotes

Explore memorable and revealing quotes from public figures, past and present, who were born on September 23.

Bruce Springsteen, singer and songwriter (September 23, 1949–present)

“I’m used to writing something, it becomes a record, it comes out. Then I go perform and I play it, and I get this immediate feedback from the audience. So that’s been the pattern of my life. But the book has been a little bit different, you know? You still had to find the music inside your language.” —Bruce Springsteen
Gross, Terry. “Bruce Springsteen: On Jersey, Masculinity And Wishing To Be His Stage Persona.” NPR, July 2, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/07/02/1012177132/bruce-springsteen-on-jersey-masculinity-and-wishing-to-be-his-stage-persona

“When you’re a child, it was very – and you forget that the Catholic religion at the time was much darker and more mysterious. The entire mass was in Latin. The church was – if you go to my church now, it’s incredibly bright inside. But at – when I was young, it was very dark inside, you know. And it was just the difference in the way that they’ve painted it since I’ve gone there. And it strives for a very different and welcoming spirit, where, when I was young, it was sort of built to intimidate.” —Bruce Springsteen
Gross, Terry. “Bruce Springsteen: On Jersey, Masculinity And Wishing To Be His Stage Persona.” NPR, July 2, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/07/02/1012177132/bruce-springsteen-on-jersey-masculinity-and-wishing-to-be-his-stage-persona

Ray Charles, singer and songwriter (September 23, 1930–June 10, 2004)

“It’s awfully strange thinking about separating small children– black from white– when most of OEem can’t even make out the difference between the two colors.” —Ray Charles
Ability Magazine. “Ray Charles Interview.” Ability Magazine, 1995, https://www.abilitymagazine.com/charles_interview.html

“I suppose I’ve always done my share of crying, especially when there’s no other way to contain my feelings. I know that men ain’t supposed to cry, but I think that’s wrong. Crying’s always been a way for me to get things out which are buried deep, deep down. When I sing, I often cry. Crying is feeling and feeling is being human. Oh yes, I cry.” —Ray Charles
Ability Magazine. “Ray Charles Interview.” Ability Magazine, 1995, https://www.abilitymagazine.com/charles_interview.html

John Coltrane, musician and composer (September 23, 1926–July 17, 1967)

“I’ve looked into a lot of folk music and stuff like that, and also a few classical things, just to see whether they could adapt to jazz. There can’t be no better source than just to go right back in jazz itself and get something.” —John Coltrane
Gleason, Ralph J. “An Interview with John Coltrane—May 2, 1961.” Yale University Press, October 15, 2020, https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2020/10/15/an-interview-with-john-coltrane-may-2-1961/

“I wanted to expand myself musically because I’ve been soloing for years and that’s about all and I feel a need to learn more about production of music and expression and how to do things musically. I feel a need for another horn for that reason, to kind of offer more.” —John Coltrane
Gleason, Ralph J. “An Interview with John Coltrane—May 2, 1961.” Yale University Press, October 15, 2020, https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2020/10/15/an-interview-with-john-coltrane-may-2-1961/

Walter Lippmann, political commentator (September 23, 1889–December 14, 1974)

“For when there was panic in the air, with one crisis tripping over the heels of another, actual dangers mixed with imaginary scares, there is no chance at all for the constructive use of reasons, and any order soon seems preferable to any disorder.” —Walter Lippmann
Friendly, Fred. “On Understanding Society.” Columbia Journalism Review, Fall 1969, https://www.cjr.org/60th/on-understanding-society-fred-friendly-interviews-walter-lippmann.php/

“I wrote a book called ‘The Phantom Public,’ arguing that really what public opinion in the end could do was to say yes or no. It couldn’t do anything very much more complicated than that.” —Walter Lippmann
Friendly, Fred. “On Understanding Society.” Columbia Journalism Review, Fall 1969, https://www.cjr.org/60th/on-understanding-society-fred-friendly-interviews-walter-lippmann.php/

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