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About this quote

What does it mean?
Benny is remembered as being frugal or mean throughout his life, with his lifespan feeling too short.
In plain terms
He was stingy until the end, but we wish he lived longer.
What can you take from it?
Negative traits can coexist with love and loss.

Where it applies

  • memorials
  • character studies
  • family gatherings

Putting it to work

  • honor complex legacies
  • remember the whole person

Questions to consider

  • How do we remember the flawed?
  • Is a lifetime enough?

Another view

It simplifies his character to just one trait.

More from Jack Benny

  1. There's one particular moment during that concert that I shall recall as long as I live. Its when the entire audience jumped to its feet and shouted, 'More! Mo…

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  2. There was one especially memorable moment . . . when Jack began a very difficult passage from Mendelssohn's Concerto, everyone in the orchestra turned and look…

    Permalink to quote #112
  3. Throughout Jack's violin solo at the Hollywood Bowl, the audience was glued to their seats. That was the only way he could get them to sit down. ~ Zubin Mehta

    Permalink to quote #111

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