The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician. Things like old folks singing in the moonlight in the back yard on a hot night or something said long ago.
Louis ArmstrongRead
Making money ain't nothing exciting to me. You might be able to buy a little better booze than the wino on the corner. But you get sick just like the next cat and when you die you're just as graveyard dead as he is.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Money does not define our worth or experiences; all humans share the same fate regardless of wealth.
In this quote, Louis Armstrong emphasizes that the accumulation of wealth is trivial when compared to the fundamental realities of life and death. He argues that material possessions cannot elevate one's existence or separate them from the common struggles of humanity, suggesting that we all eventually face the same end, regardless of our financial status.
Themes
MoneyWealthLifeDeathHumility
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about financial literacy, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of valuing experiences over material wealth.
More from Louis Armstrong
All quotes →Very few of the men whose names have become great in the early pioneering of jazz and of swing were trained in music at all. They were born musicians: they felt their music and played by ear and memory. That was the way it was with the great Dixieland Five.
Louis ArmstrongRead
My whole life, my whole soul, my whole spirit is to blow that horn.
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I've Got the World on a String.
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It's America's classical music ... this becomes our tradition ... the bottom line of any country in the world is what did we contribute to the world? ... we contributed Louis Armstrong
Louis ArmstrongRead
When I was young and very green, I worte that tune, Sister Kate, and someone said that's fine, let me publish it for you. I'll give you fifty dollars. I didn't know nothing about papers, and business, and I sold it outright.
Louis ArmstrongRead
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