--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never have your wallet with you onstage…" description: "\"Never have your wallet with you onstage. It's bad luck. You shouldn't play the piano with money in your pocket. Play like you need the money. Tom Waits..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/811/tom-waits-916_bad-luck_never-have-your-wallet-with-you-onstage_1116024.jpg" --- # Never have your wallet with you onstage. It's bad luck… ![“Never have your wallet with you onstage. It's bad luck. You shouldn't play the piano with money in your pocket. Play like you need the money. Tom Waits (to me, about 1986 or so)” quote by Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/811/tom-waits-916_bad-luck_never-have-your-wallet-with-you-onstage_1116024.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/811/tom-waits-916_bad-luck_never-have-your-wallet-with-you-onstage_1116024.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/811/tom-waits-916_bad-luck_never-have-your-wallet-with-you-onstage_1116024.jpg) > “Never have your wallet with you onstage. It's bad luck. You shouldn't play the piano with money in your pocket. Play like you need the money. Tom Waits (to me, about 1986 or so)” [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advice to avoid carrying money onstage to prevent bad luck and to play with genuine need for money. **In simple terms:** Don’t bring cash onstage; play with true purpose. Key Takeaway Play with authentic motivation, not superstition. Themes performance superstition motivation money stagecraft Mood cautionary inspirational Type practical motivational When to use this quote - concerts - theater shows - musical gigs Key Concepts psychology of performance rituals Questions to Reflect On - Do rituals improve focus? - Can financial mindset affect artistic expression? A Different Perspective Superstition may be personal and not universally applicable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-luck/) [Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luck/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Piano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/piano/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) ## Related quotes > [Never have your wallet with you onstage. It's bad luck. You shouldn't play the piano with money in your pocket. 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We don't need your money, money, money. We just wanna make the world dance, forget about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-j/it-s-not-about-the-money-money-money-we-don-t-need-your-money-money/) [Jessie J](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessie-j/) > [Covetous men need money least, yet they most affect it; but prodigals, who need it most have the least regard for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-wilson/covetous-men-need-money-least-yet-they-most-affect-it-but-prodigals/) Alexander Wilson > [I need money. I have a staff of 30, and four houses, never mind the government, to support.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hope/i-need-money-i-have-a-staff-of-30-and-four-houses-never-mind-the/) [Bob Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hope/) > [You need money to call someone your honey!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/you-need-money-to-call-someone-your-honey/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I don't need more money. I don't need that to be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/griz/i-don-t-need-more-money-i-don-t-need-that-to-be-happy/) [GRiZ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/griz/) > [The quality of writing attracts me to films, also who the other actors are, who the director is, where it's being shot. Any or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dance/the-quality-of-writing-attracts-me-to-films-also-who-the-other-actors/) [Charles Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dance/) > [I need some money. You got any money?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-negreanu/i-need-some-money-you-got-any-money/) [Daniel Negreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-negreanu/) > [You don't need money to look fabulous. There are so many awesome new designers, so many designers doing collections for mass retailers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-london/you-don-t-need-money-to-look-fabulous-there-are-so-many-awesome-new/) [Stacy London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-london/) > [If you are alone, I'll be your shadow. If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder. If you want a hug, I'll be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-alone-i-ll-be-your-shadow-if-you-want-to-cry-i-ll-be-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am out of money,we are all out of money,but we dont need money down here- Dont need anything but Men , Muskets, Ammunition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-connolly/i-am-out-of-money-we-are-all-out-of-money-but-we-dont-need-money-down/) James A. 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Others will drive on the road he built.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/bill-hicks-blowtorch-excavator-truthsayer-and-brain-specialist-he/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Don't plant your days they turn into weeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/don-t-plant-your-days-they-turn-into-weeds/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [“T’ain’t no sin to take off your skin, and dance around in your bones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/t-ain-t-no-sin-to-take-off-your-skin-and-dance-around-in-your-bones/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [“an all time favorite: "The large print giveth, the small print taketh away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/an-all-time-favorite-the-large-print-giveth-the-small-print-taketh/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I'll tell you all my secrets but I lie about my past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-ll-tell-you-all-my-secrets-but-i-lie-about-my-past/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [For a songwriter, you don't really go to songwriting school; you learn by listening to tunes. 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It does have its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-bark-my-voice-out-through-a-closed-throat-pretty-much-it-s-more/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) [Explore all 328 Tom Waits quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) ## More Bad luck quotes > [“You never talk to the pitcher when…” He shook his head. “You just never talk to the pitcher when--” “I just wanted to congratulate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawthorne/you-never-talk-to-the-pitcher-when-he-shook-his-head-you-just-never/) [Rachel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawthorne/) > [Bad luck isn't brought by broken mirrors, but by broken minds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramandeep-singh/bad-luck-isn-t-brought-by-broken-mirrors-but-by-broken-minds/) [Ramandeep Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramandeep-singh/) > [I never knew an early-rising, hard-working, prudent man, careful of his earnings, and strictly honest who complained of bad luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/i-never-knew-an-early-rising-hard-working-prudent-man-careful-of-his/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“I didn't do any of what they told me,' she said, 'because the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-didn-t-do-any-of-what-they-told-me-she-said-because-the-more-i/) [Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“Everyone knows it is bad luck to step on a toad or on the shadow of a tree, to walk under a ladder,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-knows-it-is-bad-luck-to-step-on-a-toad-or-on-the-shadow-of-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Because the core of my personal philosophy is that everything that happens to us benefits us, I was also spared the futility of cursing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/because-the-core-of-my-personal-philosophy-is-that-everything-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-is-no-bad-luck-in-the-world-but-whitefolks/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [The biggest trap, the biggest dungeon in life isn't laziness or bad luck, it's comfort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/the-biggest-trap-the-biggest-dungeon-in-life-isn-t-laziness-or-bad/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [All of us have bad luck and good luck. 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