50 Quotes by Louis Armstrong

Born in 1901, Louis Armstrong was one of the most popular faces in jazz. He was an unmatched trumpeter and vocalist with a career that spanned five decades.

He was nicknamed “Satchmo”, “Satch”, and “Pops”. In his lifetime, he uttered several quotes that inspired millions of people and continue to do so even today.

This article will share with you 50 best quotes by Louis Armstrong.

1. “The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician. Things like old folks singing in the moonlight in the backyard on a hot night or something said long ago.”– Louis Armstrong

2. “There’s only two ways to sum up music; either it’s good or it’s bad. If it’s good you don’t mess about it, you just enjoy it.”– Louis Armstrong

3. “If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.”– Louis Armstrong

4. “You blows who you is.”– Louis Armstrong

5. “Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine, I look right into the heart of good old New Orleans. It has given me something to live for.”– Louis Armstrong

"Each man has his own music bubbling up inside him."- Louis Armstrong

6. “Each man has his own music bubbling up inside him.”– Louis Armstrong

7. “Don’t do nothing halfway, else you find yourself dropping more than can be picked up.”– Louis Armstrong

 8. “All them weird chords which don’t mean a thing…you got no melody to remember, and no beat to dance to.”– Louis Armstrong

9. “Music is life itself. What would this world be without good music? No matter what kind it is.”– Louis Armstrong

"Musicians don't retire; they stop when there's no more music in them."- Louis Armstrong

10. “Musicians don’t retire; they stop when there’s no more music in them.”– Louis Armstrong

 11. “Even if I have two three days off, you still have to blow that horn. You have to keep up those chops… I have to warm up everyday for at least an hour.”– Louis Armstrong

 12. “I was determined to play my horn against all odds, and I had to sacrifice a whole lot of pleasure to do so.”– Louis Armstrong

"There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell them."- Louis Armstrong

13. “There are some people that if they don’t know, you can’t tell them.”– Louis Armstrong

14. “When I play, maybe ‘Back o’ Town Blues,’ I’m thinking about one of the old, low-down moments – when maybe your woman didn’t treat you right. That’s a hell of a moment when a woman tell you, ‘I got another mule in my stall’.”– Louis Armstrong

15. “What do I want to get famous for? What do I care about famous? The public does that. That ain’t me man. I just blow.”– Louis Armstrong

"I never want to be anything more than I am; what I don't have, I don't need."- Louis Armstrong

16. “I never want to be anything more than I am; what I don’t have, I don’t need.”– Louis Armstrong

17. “The first time I left New Orleans I went to St Louis with Fate’s band on the boat and to my surprise – we were the first colored band to play with the Streckfus Steamers.”– Louis Armstrong

18. “Man, if you have to ask what it is, you’ll never know.”– Louis Armstrong

19. “Seems to me, it ain’t the world that’s so bad but what we’re doin’ to it. And all I’m saying is, see, what a wonderful world it would be if only we’d give it a chance. Love baby, love. That’s the secret…”– Louis Armstrong

“What we play is life.”- Louis Armstrong

20. “What we play is life.”– Louis Armstrong

21. “If I don’t practice for a day, I know it. If I don’t practice for two days, the critics know it. And if I don’t practice for three days, the public knows it.”– Louis Armstrong

22. “It makes you feel good, man, makes you forget all the bad things that happen to a Negro. It makes you feel wanted, and when you’re with another tea smoker, it makes you feel a special kinship.”– Louis Armstrong

"My whole life, my whole soul, my whole spirit is to blow that horn.”- Louis Armstrong

23. “My whole life, my whole soul, my whole spirit is to blow that horn.”– Louis Armstrong

24. “Never play anything the same way twice.”– Louis Armstrong

25. “The Brick House was one of the toughest joints I ever played in … Guys would drink and fight one another like circle saws. Bottles would come flying over the bandstand like crazy and there was lots of plain common shooting and cutting. But somehow all that jive didn’t faze me at all. I was so happy to have some place to blow my horn.”– Louis Armstrong

"My whole life, my whole soul, my whole spirit is to blow that horn.”- Louis Armstrong

26. “When you’re dead, you’re done.”– Louis Armstrong

27. At first it was just a misdemeanor, but then you lost the “mis-de” and you just got meaner and meaner.”– Louis Armstrong

28. “As a youngster in the little orphanage home in New Orleans, I was the bugler of the institution. When I got to be around 13 or 14 years old, they took me off the bugle and put me in the little brass band.”– Louis Armstrong

29. “I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom for me and you. And I think to myself what a wonderful world. I see skies of blue and clouds of white. The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. And I think to myself what a wonderful world.”– Louis Armstrong

“Love is talkative passion.”- Louis Armstrong

30. “Love is talkative passion.”– Louis Armstrong

31. “I’ll bet right now most of the youngsters and hot club fans who hear the name Storyville hasn’t the least idea that it consisted of some of the biggest prostitutes in the world … Standing in their doorways nightly in their fine and beautiful negligees — faintly calling to the boys as they passed their cribs.”– Louis Armstrong

32. “Music is either good or bad, and it’s got to be learned. You got to have balance.”– Louis Armstrong

“I don’t need words. It’s all in the phrasing.”- Louis Armstrong

33. “I don’t need words. It’s all in the phrasing.”– Louis Armstrong

34. “You can’t take it for granted. Even if we have two, three days off I still have to blow that horn a few hours to keep up the chops. I mean I’ve been playing 50 years, and that’s what I’ve been doing in order to keep in that groove there.”– Louis Armstrong

35. 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 Armstrong

“It ain’t whatcha say, it’s the way howcha say it.”- Louis Armstrong

36. “It ain’t whatcha say, it’s the way howcha say it.”– Louis Armstrong

37. “When I go to the Gate, I’ll play a duet with Gabriel. Yeah, we’ll play ‘Sleepy Time Down South’ and ‘Hello, Dolly!.’ Then he can blow a couple that he’s been playing up there all the time.”– Louis Armstrong

38. “You either have it or you don’t. You play your horn just like you sing a song or a hymn. If it’s in your heart, you express yourself in the tune.”– Louis Armstrong

39. “Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans. When that’s where you left your heart. The moonlight on the bayou a creole tune that fills the air. I dream about magnolias in bloom and I’m wishin’ I was there.”– Louis Armstrong

“Not too slow, not too fast. Kind of like half-fast.”- Louis Armstrong

40. “Not too slow, not too fast. Kind of like half-fast.”– Louis Armstrong

41. “As many bands as you heard [in New Orleans], that’s how many bands you heard playing right. I thought I was in Heaven playing second trumpet in the Tuxedo Brass Band — and they had some funeral marches that would just touch your heart, they were so beautiful.”– Louis Armstrong

42. “There’s a thing I’ve dreamed of all my life, and I’ll be damned if it don’t look like it’s about to come true-to be King of the Zulu’s parade. After that, I’ll be ready to die.”– Louis Armstrong

“I’m a spade, you’re an ofay. Let’s play.”- Louis Armstrong

43. “I’m a spade, you’re an ofay. Let’s play.”– Louis Armstrong

44. “As many bands as you heard [in New Orleans], that’s how many bands you heard playing right. I thought I was in Heaven playing second trumpet in the Tuxedo Brass Band — and they had some funeral marches that would just touch your heart, they were so beautiful.”– Louis Armstrong

45. “It really puzzles me to see marijuana connected with narcotics dope and all of that stuff. It is a thousand times better than whiskey. It is an assistant and a friend.”– Louis Armstrong

“Each man has his own music bubbling up inside him.”- Louis Armstrong

46. “Each man has his own music bubbling up inside him.”– Louis Armstrong

47. “To jazz, or not to jazz, there is no question!”– Louis Armstrong

48. “A lotta cats copy the Mona Lisa, but people still line up to see the original.”– Louis Armstrong

49. “The best I can do is stay happy.”– Louis Armstrong

“We all do ‘do, re, mi,’ but you have got to find the other notes yourself.”- Louis Armstrong

50. “We all do ‘do, re, mi,’ but you have got to find the other notes yourself.”– Louis Armstrong