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
I do believe that my whole success goes back to that time I was arrested as a wayward boy at the age of thirteen. Because then I had to quit running around and began to learn something. Most of all, I began to learn music.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Success often stems from overcoming adversity and discovering one's true passion.
In this quote, Louis Armstrong reflects on how his arrest as a young boy forced him to pause his reckless behavior and focus on learning, particularly music, which became his passion and path to success. This experience highlights the idea that challenges and setbacks can lead to important personal growth and the discovery of one's true potential.
Themes
SuccessMusicLearningAdversityGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech at a youth center, one might say: 'Remember what Louis Armstrong said about his success stemming from adversity; your challenges can lead you to your future.'
More from Louis Armstrong
All quotes →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.
Louis ArmstrongRead
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.
Louis ArmstrongRead
I've Got the World on a String.
Louis ArmstrongRead
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
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