There is no such thing as 'on the way out' as long as you are still doing something interesting and good; you're in the business because you're breathing.

Jazz is played from the heart. You can even live by it. Always love it.

Each man has his own music bubbling up inside him.

What we play is life.

What we play is life.

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.

I don't let my mouth say nothin' my head can't stand....

Seems to me it ain't the world that's so bad but what we're doing 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.

We all do 'do, re, mi,' but you have got to find the other notes yourself.

You got to love to be able to play

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.

The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician.

The best I can do is stay happy.

There are Two Secrets to Success: 1. Don't tell ANYONE Everything you know 2.If you have to ask what Jazz is, you'll never know.

There are Two Secrets to Success: 1. Don't tell ANYONE Everything you know 2.If you have to ask what Jazz is, you'll never know.

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.

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.

‎We all go Do, Re, Mi, but you've gotta find all the other notes yourself.

If you have to ask what jazz is you will never know." Louis Armstrong

You will never know what the meaning of Jazz is if ask what it means.

My life has always been my music, it's always come first, but the music ain't worth nothing if you can't lay it on the public. The main thing is to live for that audience, 'cause what you're there for is to please the people.

There's some folks, that, if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.

I'm a spade, you're an ofay. Let's play.

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.

You've got to be good or as bad as the devil.

When you're dead, you're done.

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.

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.

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

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.

Love is talkative passion.

I don't need words. It's all in the phrasing.

All them weird chords which don't mean a thing...you got no melody to remember, and no beat to dance to

There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.

If ya ain't got it in ya, ya can't blow it out.

Man, if you have to ask what it [jazz] is, you’ll never know.

Never play a thing the same way twice.

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

[Bebop is] Chinese music.

Never play anything the same way twice.

The Bright Blessed Day, the Dark Sacred Night

I don't get involved in politics. I just blow my horn.

What a wonderful world.

The way they are treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell!

What is Jazz? Dude, if you have to ask, you'll never know.

What is Jazz? Dude, if you have to ask, you'll never know.

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.

You blows who you is.

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.

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