Top 95 Quotes & Sayings by Ray Charles

I met Quincy Jones in Seattle. We were kids together... liked each other when we met and have been close ever since. He wasn't writing when we met - in fact, I more or less started him off to write; voicing, harmony, and stuff like that.

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.

Music is powerful. As people listen to it, they can be affected. They respond.

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.

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.

I've always been the kind of person who, if there's anything that can kill me, I want to know something about it.

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.

There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we're here to explore new possibilities.

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.'

To me, music is entertainment - what else can it be? In fact, it's the only language I know of that's universal.

My version of 'Georgia' became the state song of Georgia. That was a big thing for me, man. It really touched me. Here is a state that used to lynch people like me suddenly declaring my version of a song as its state song. That is touching.

What is a soul? It's like electricity - we don't really know what it is, but it's a force that can light a room.

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.

My music had roots which I'd dug up from my own childhood, musical roots buried in the darkest soil.

Music is my life, professionally, for nearly 60 years. To be recognized by the academy is still the highest honor.

Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.

I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't been able to hear.

Music's been around a long time, and there's going to be music long after Ray Charles is dead. I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind. If it's a big record, that's the frosting on the cake, but music's the main meal.

Love is a special word, and I use it only when I mean it. You say the word too much and it becomes cheap.

I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great.

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 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.

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.

The fact of the matter is, you don't give up what's natural. Anything I've fantasized about, I've done.

I suppose I've always done my share of crying, especially when there's no other way to contain my feelings. I know that men ain't supposed to cry, but I think that's wrong. Crying's always been a way for me to get things out which are buried deep, deep down. When I sing, I often cry. Crying is feeling, and feeling is being human. Oh yes, I cry.

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.

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 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!

I was born with music inside me

I'm not into the money thing. You can only sleep in one bed at a time. You can only eat one meal at a time, or be in one car at a time. So I don't have to have millions of dollars to be happy. All I need are clothes on my back, a decent meal, and a little loving when I feel like it. That's the bottom line.

I never considered myself part of rock 'n' roll. My stuff was more adult. It was more difficult for teenagers to relate to; my stuff was filled with more despair than anything you'd associate with rock 'n' roll. Since I couldn't see people dancing, I didn't write jitterbugs or twists. I wrote rhythms that moved me. My style requires pure heart singing.

Music is the chalk to the blackboard of life. Without it everything is a blank slate

Just because you can't see anything , doesn't mean you should shut your eyes.

I can't help what I sound like. What I sound like is what i am. You know? I cannot be anything other that what I am.

Sometimes my dreams are so deep that I dream that I'm dreaming.

I don't think any of us really knows why we're here. But I think we're supposed to believe we're here for a purpose.

Do it right or don't do it at all. That comes from my mom. If there's something I want to do, I'm one of those people that won't be satisfied until I get it done. If I'm trying to sing something and I can't get it, I'm going to keep at it until I get where I want it.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder and tears are only rain to make love grow.

It's like Duke Ellington said, there are only two kinds of music - good and bad. And you can tell when something is good.

I'd like to think that when I sing a song, I can let you know all about the heartbreak, struggle, lies and kicks in the ass I've gotten over the years for being black and everything else, without actually saying a word about it.

Dreams, if they're any good, are always a little bit crazy.

The important thing is to feel your music, really feel it and believe it.

Live each day like it's your last, 'cause one day you gonna be right

Sighted people, you gotta deal with them.

My mom taught me a lot. A lot about minding your own business and leaving other people's business alone. And let them think what they want.

You never can overwhelm an instrument. You will never get out all that's in an instrument. An instrument will bring you to your limits.

I really feel that if you're gonna be good, you gotta practice... Practice whatever the hell you do.

Rhythm and blues used to be called race music. ... This music was going on for years, but nobody paid any attention to it.

The words to country songs are very earthy like the blues. They're not as dressed up and the people are very honest and say, 'Look, I miss you darlin', so I went out and got drunk in this bar.' That's the way you say it. Where in Tin Pan Alley they would say, 'Oh I missed you darling, so I went to this restaurant and I sat down and had a dinner for one.' That's cleaned up now, you see? But country and blues tells it like it is.

[On his heroin addiction:] 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.

Music to me is like breathing. I don't get tired of breathing, I don't get tired of music.

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.

What I've got to live up to, is being myself. If I do that, the rest will take care of itself.

I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind.

Music is about the only thing left that people don't fight over.

I cant retire from music any more than I can retire from my liver. Youd have to remove the music from me surgically—like you were taking out my appendix.

Music to me is just like breathing. I have to have it. It's part of me.

Don't go backwards - you've already been there.

Goodbye don't mean gone.

If you can play the blues, you can do anything.