Words matter. These are the best Ray Charles Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great.
There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we’re here to explore new possibilities.
Mama was a country woman with a whole lot of common sense. She understood what most of our neighbors didn’t – that I shouldn’t grow dependent on anyone except myself. ‘One of these days, I ain’t gonna be here,’ she kept hammering inside my head.
I’ve always been the kind of person who, if there’s anything that can kill me, I want to know something about it.
Affluence separates people. Poverty knits ’em together. You got some sugar and I don’t; I borrow some of yours. Next month you might not have any flour; well, I’ll give you some of mine.
I am very into lyrics. I start with what the words are saying, what the storyline is saying, like a good script. It should really capture me, do something for me. If I don’t get it, it’s not going to move people, and if it’s not going to move people, it’s not going to happen.
The fact of the matter is, you don’t give up what’s natural. Anything I’ve fantasized about, I’ve done.
I did it to myself. It wasn’t society… it wasn’t a pusher, it wasn’t being blind or being black or being poor. It was all my doing.
I’m a firm believer in God himself, but that’s as far as I can go. I’m not any denomination. I’m not Catholic or Presbyterian or Baptist or Methodist or Jewish or Muslim. I’m none of those things. And I’m sure that’s just fine with God.
I don’t know what would have happened to me if I hadn’t been able to hear.
I don’t know about other writers, but for myself, to write I must be relatively quiet – it’s very difficult to write with the telephone and the doorbell ringing and conversation going on; I’m not that good a writer to write through all that!
With singing, the name of the game is to make yourself believable. When somebody hears you sing a song, and they say, ‘Oh, that must have happened to him,’ that’s when you know you’re transmitting. It’s like being a good actor. You make people feel things, emotions and what not.
People couldn’t understand why my mama would have this blind kid out doing things like cutting wood for the fire. But her thing was: He may be blind, but he ain’t stupid.
I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me – like food or water.
Love is a special word, and I use it only when I mean it. You say the word too much and it becomes cheap.
What makes my approach special is that I do different things. I do jazz, blues, country music and so forth. I do them all, like a good utility man.
To me, music is entertainment – what else can it be? In fact, it’s the only language I know of that’s universal.
Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.
There’s nothing written in the Bible, Old or New testament, that says, ‘If you believe in Me, you ain’t going to have no troubles.’
Any artist, when he goes in to record, should have the feeling that any song he records can be a hit. This may sound egotistical, but it makes sense.
