35: We Called It Music: A Generation of Jazz, Eddie Condon, Thomas Sugrue

Eddie's combination of hyperbole and understatement is hilarious.

Joe Costello telling Eddie Condon about culture, civilization, and the difference between Ireland and the United States:

"The delight of a good society is that a man can develop the best part of himsefl and use it to give pleasure to others. It may be as small a thing as painting a pole, but if he does it better than anyone else he is distinguished and happy and the country is full of beautifully painted poles."
He gave me some water in a small glass.
"Over here," he went on, "a man is expected to do his job poorly for as much money as he can get frlom his employer by either personal or collective bargaining. Usually his employer doesn't know the difference between a good job and a bad job so it makes no difference; the high price and the bad work are passed on to the consumer. There are a lot of poles and they all have flags on them but very few are beautifully painted. It's a wonderful country, but it has very little art; everyone is too busy being succesful—getting more money for doing less work."