If you want to be a good blues singer, people are going to be down on you, so dress like you're going to the bank to borrow money.
When people treat you mean, you dislike them for that, but not because of their person, who they are. I was born and raised in a segregated society, but when I left there, I had nobody I disliked other than the people that'd mistreated me, and that only lasted for as long as they were mistreating me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Dislike for someone often stems from their actions rather than their character.
B. B. King's quote reflects on the nature of human relationships, emphasizing that negative feelings towards individuals often arise from their treatment of us rather than intrinsic flaws in their character. He shares his personal experience of growing up in a segregated society, highlighting how his dislike was directed solely at those who mistreated him. Once removed from mistreatment, he found that he held no animosity towards others, pointing to the temporary nature of resentment that arises from negative actions rather than enduring disdain for individuals themselves.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about handling negative interactions with others.
More from B. B. King
All quotes →The way I feel today, as long as my health is good and I can handle myself well and people still come to my concerts, still buy my CDs, I'll keep playing until I feel like I can't.
Everything I record, I just try to sound like me and come up with songs that suit what I do and then just go for it. I never know what the public's going to like, anyway.
A guitar is like an old friend that is there with me.
I have not been a good father, but no father has loved his children more. Like my father, I decided the best thing I could do for my kids was work and provide. Fortunately, I've been able to do that. Unfortunately, my work was on the road, and that's meant a life of one-nighters.
People all over the world have problems. And as long as people have problems, the blues can never die.
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As we become purer channels for God's light, we develop an appetite for the sweetness that is possible in this world. A miracle worker is not geared toward fighting the world that is, but toward creating the world that could be.
These, then, are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in.
This world's existence is one night long. There's a great lively gathering that night, but some people sleep through it.
I don't want it to end, and so, as every therapist knows, the ego does not want an end to its “problems” because they are part of its identity. If no one will listen to my sad story, I can tell it to myself in my head, over and over, and feel sorry for myself, and so have an identity as someone who is being treated unfairly by life or other people, fate or God. It gives definition to my self-image, makes me into someone, and that is all that matters to the ego.
Many biblical verses are like inkblot tests, revealing more about us than about the text in question.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies!