--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Miles Davis, his parents migrated from…" description: "\"Miles Davis, his parents migrated from Arkansas to Illinois, where he had the luxury of being able to practice for hours upon hours. He never would hav..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42f/isabel-wilkerson-10765_able_miles-davis-his-parents-migrated-from-ar_1847203.jpg" --- # Miles Davis, his parents migrated from Arkansas to… ![“Miles Davis, his parents migrated from Arkansas to Illinois, where he had the luxury of being able to practice for hours upon hours. He never would have been able to do that in the cotton country of Arkansas.” quote by Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42f/isabel-wilkerson-10765_able_miles-davis-his-parents-migrated-from-ar_1847203.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42f/isabel-wilkerson-10765_able_miles-davis-his-parents-migrated-from-ar_1847203.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42f/isabel-wilkerson-10765_able_miles-davis-his-parents-migrated-from-ar_1847203.jpg) > “Miles Davis, his parents migrated from Arkansas to Illinois, where he had the luxury of being able to practice for hours upon hours. He never would have been able to do that in the cotton country of Arkansas.” [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Geographic relocation can provide essential resources and environments that enable talent to flourish. **In simple terms:** Moving can give opportunities not available at home. Key Takeaway Seek environments that nurture your growth. Themes migration opportunity environment talent development Mood reflective inspirational Type historical sociological When to use this quote - career advancement - artistic practice - education - personal growth Key Concepts social mobility resource access regional disparity Questions to Reflect On - What environment best supports your aspirations? - How does place shape potential? A Different Perspective Success may still depend on personal effort and support systems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Arkansas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arkansas/) [Cotton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cotton/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Davis Parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/davis-parents-2398679/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Illinois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illinois/) [Luxury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luxury/) [Migrated Arkansas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/migrated-arkansas-2398678/) [Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miles/) [Miles davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miles-davis/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Parents Migrated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parents-migrated-687049/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) ## Related quotes > [My parents migrated to Canada in 1876, and I decided to go with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-leacock/my-parents-migrated-to-canada-in-1876-and-i-decided-to-go-with-them/) [Stephen Leacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-leacock/) > [My parents migrated to Phoenix, AZ, in the '80s, and I watched them work tirelessly to provide for me and my siblings as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/opal-tometi/my-parents-migrated-to-phoenix-az-in-the-80s-and-i-watched-them-work/) [Opal Tometi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/opal-tometi/) > [A Pike, in the California dialect, is a native of Missouri, Arkansas, Northern Texas, or Southern Illinois. The first emigrants that came over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/a-pike-in-the-california-dialect-is-a-native-of-missouri-arkansas/) [Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/) > [Maybe it's wishful thinking, this snaggly faith of mine, or maybe it's Miles Davis saying, Don't play what's there, play what's not there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/maybe-it-s-wishful-thinking-this-snaggly-faith-of-mine-or-maybe-it-s/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Jazz music is as American as it gets, and so is the U.S. Postal Service. A Miles Davis stamp is a perfect marriage of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/jazz-music-is-as-american-as-it-gets-and-so-is-the-u-s-postal-service/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [I do read a lot of autobiographies and biographies but from people who are not in my field - older women, older artists, Miles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viv-albertine/i-do-read-a-lot-of-autobiographies-and-biographies-but-from-people/) [Viv Albertine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viv-albertine/) > [If I want to hear a voice, Lana Del Rey is very soothing, and I could just listen to her on repeat, but my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoni-porowski/if-i-want-to-hear-a-voice-lana-del-rey-is-very-soothing-and-i-could/) [Antoni Porowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoni-porowski/) > [I used to be friends with Miles Davis. He didn't like many folks. I lived across the street from him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rip-torn/i-used-to-be-friends-with-miles-davis-he-didn-t-like-many-folks-i/) [Rip Torn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rip-torn/) > [I love music/sounds that have a passion, a fire, an energy I can connect with. I love angry sounding beat tracks, dark sounds for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-harris/i-love-music-sounds-that-have-a-passion-a-fire-an-energy-i-can/) [Mick Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-harris/) > [Miles Davis himself, I discovered him when I was 15, and he rocked my world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mclaughlin/miles-davis-himself-i-discovered-him-when-i-was-15-and-he-rocked-my/) [John McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mclaughlin/) > [ I used to try to play like \[Miles Davis\], and Miles caught me copying him one night at Birdland. He said, 'Hey man, why… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-hubbard/i-used-to-try-to-play-like-miles-davis-and-miles-caught-me-copying/) [Freddie Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-hubbard/) > [If we are going to list guitar influences, the biggest one by far is Wes Montgomery. Also, Gary Burton was obviously huge for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/if-we-are-going-to-list-guitar-influences-the-biggest-one-by-far-is/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [I never considered Miles Davis a perfectionist; I always considered him as an excellence-ist, where deviation is actually kind of cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-trotter/i-never-considered-miles-davis-a-perfectionist-i-always-considered/) [Charlie Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-trotter/) > [Miles Davis fully embraced possibilities and delved into it. He was criticized heavily from the jazz side. He was supposed to be part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-laswell/miles-davis-fully-embraced-possibilities-and-delved-into-it-he-was/) [Bill Laswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-laswell/) > [Miles Davis is a major influence of mine in terms of the way that I am as a bandleader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefon-harris/miles-davis-is-a-major-influence-of-mine-in-terms-of-the-way-that-i/) [Stefon Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefon-harris/) ## More by Isabel Wilkerson > [“That one over this is the one for the use of the white people,” Judge Amistead Jones said. “Not that I am a stickler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/that-one-over-this-is-the-one-for-the-use-of-the-white-people-judge/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“...they speak like melted butter and their children speak like footsteps on pavement...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/they-speak-like-melted-butter-and-their-children-speak-like-footsteps/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [Many immigrants do not talk about what they endured back home. They were fleeing that world, and when they left they didn't want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/many-immigrants-do-not-talk-about-what-they-endured-back-home-they/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“Many of the people who left the South never exactly sat their children down to tell them these things, tell them what happened and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/many-of-the-people-who-left-the-south-never-exactly-sat-their/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“Fifteen thousand men, women, and children gathered to watch eighteen-year-old Jesse Washington as he was burned alive in Waco, Texas, in May 1916. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/fifteen-thousand-men-women-and-children-gathered-to-watch-eighteen/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [It occurred to me that no matter where I lived, geography could not save me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/it-occurred-to-me-that-no-matter-where-i-lived-geography-could-not/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [Well, I'm a daughter of the great migration as, really, the majority of African Americans that you meet in the north and west are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/well-i-m-a-daughter-of-the-great-migration-as-really-the-majority-of/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [There were colored and white waiting rooms everywhere, from doctor's offices to the bus stations, as people may already know. But there were actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/there-were-colored-and-white-waiting-rooms-everywhere-from-doctor-s/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“I don’t see one white person in this block selling drugs. They got the nerve to be mad at the blue-eyed devil. You don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/i-don-t-see-one-white-person-in-this-block-selling-drugs-they-got-the/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“That the Negro American has survived at all is extraordinary —a lesser people might simply have died out, as indeed others have. — DANIEL…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/that-the-negro-american-has-survived-at-all-is-extraordinary-a-lesser/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“The reality was that Jim Crow filtered through the economy, north and south, and pressed down on poor and working-class people of all races.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/the-reality-was-that-jim-crow-filtered-through-the-economy-north-and/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [I mean my mother migrated from Georgia -Rome, Georgia, to Washington, D.C., where she then met my father, who was a Tuskegee Airman who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/i-mean-my-mother-migrated-from-georgia-rome-georgia-to-washington-d-c/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [You must leave this world a better place than it would have been if you had not existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/you-must-leave-this-world-a-better-place-than-it-would-have-been-if/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“County supervisors relented only after losing their case in the U.S. Supreme Court, choosing finally to reopen the schools rather than face imprisonment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/county-supervisors-relented-only-after-losing-their-case-in-the-u-s/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [My parents sent me to a school across town, an integrated school, where I had the chance to meet and grow up with people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/my-parents-sent-me-to-a-school-across-town-an-integrated-school-where/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) [Explore all 63 Isabel Wilkerson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) [Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Miles Davis, his parents migrated from Arkansas to Illinois, where he had the luxury of being able to practice for hours upon hours. 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