Louis Armstrong

"We all got roots and we never should forget that."

"You can't take nothing with you - all you got is the moment."

"I taught my lips to do what my heart wants them to."

"The magic of jazz is in its freedom to be itself."

"A person without a smile shouldn't work with people - get a machine to do it."

"I always carry a song in my heart wherever I go."

"Two dimes don't make a quarter, but two great musicians make magic."

"I blow my horn and people listen - that's all the success I need."

"Never play a note you don't believe in."

"I figured out I was meant to play this music from the first time I picked up a horn."

"Some folks got it, some folks don't - can't nothing teach you what you naturally got."

"When you got something to say and you say it with music, people understand."

"All these years I've been trying to make people happy with my music."

"The thing about music is it don't cost nothing and it's worth everything."

"I always believed in the power of what a song could do for the soul."

"Laughter and music - those are the two things that keep you young."

"Whatever you do, do it with all your heart."

"I never had much schooling, but the street and the music taught me plenty."

"There's something about the trumpet that makes you tell the truth."

"We need more love in this world and less of everything else."

"I've seen a lot in my time, but the best thing is watching people connect through music."

"Every song tells a story - the trick is making people care about the story."

"I was born poor, but music made me rich in ways money can't measure."

"The world needs healers and I'm trying to be one with my horn."

"When I'm up there playing, I'm in a conversation with something higher."

"You want to know what makes a great musician? A great heart."

"Life's too short to play it safe in your music or your heart."

"I never worried about making it big - I just wanted to make it right."

"The blues taught me that pain and beauty can live in the same moment."

"I think my music speaks for me better than any words I could say."