Ray charles quotes

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.

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

I know it sounds strange - a blind teenager buzzin' round on a motorcycle - but I liked that; that was me. I had always been nervy, and I always had a lot of faith in my ability not to break my neck.

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

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

Drunken talk isn’t meant to be printed in the paper.

I was born with music inside me

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

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

All my life I've always been so blue, born to lose, and now I'm losing you.

When I started to sing like myself - as opposed to imitating Nat Cole, which I had done for a while - when I started singing like Ray Charles, it had this spiritual and churchy, this religious or gospel sound. It had this holiness and preachy tone to it. It was very controversial. I got a lot of criticism for it.

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

Before I begin, let me say right here and now that I'm a country boy. And, man, I mean the real backwoods! That's at the start of the start of the thing, and that's at the heart of the thing.

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

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.

I never said I was a genius. I never said I was a cornerstone. I've never said I'm a legend in my own time. You never heard me say nothing like that.

I heard someone say that all black people got rhythm. Bullshit.

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.

When I was going blind, I didn't turn to God. It didn't seem to me then - and it doesn't seem to me now - that those items were His concern. Early on, I figured I better begin to learn how to count on myself, instead of counting on supernatural forces.

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.

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

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

Now Listen You know I work so hard, all day long Everything I try to do, Seem to always turn out wrong That's why I wanna stop by on my way home and say Let's go get stoned

When I'm having a rehearsal and there are new guys who come in to try out for the job, I always let my conductor rehearse them. Because I don't want the guy to get bent out of shape, because I walk in.

Just like you can buy grades of silk, you can buy grades of justice.

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

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

I had to pawn my clothes just to pay my rent.

I think that most great artists who are extremely known, as I am, would intimidate a lot of people. I don't want to do that to people, but I know I do.

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

I was born with music inside me. That's the only explanation I know of

Many times during auditions, I was told that I couldn't carry a note with a bucket, and that I sure couldn't play the piano.

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 used to sing like Nat King Cole. I mean he was the guy when I was comin' up, and you know, man, people used to say of me, "Damn, he sure do sound like Nat King Cole." But there was a day, and luckily for me it was early, when I woke up and asked myself, "Well, when are the ask me to sing because I sound like me?" So my advice is, never do anything that you don't like.

You ask me what I'd like to do that I haven't done and I say 'Nothin'!' I haven't any mountains to climb or oceans to swim. I've been an extremely blessed individual. ... I'm not clamorin' for more trinkets. If I were to die tomorrow, I could say I've had a good life.

Other arms reach out to me, Other eyes smile tenderly, Still in peaceful dreams I see, The road leads back to you.

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.

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.

Music is nothing separate from me. It is me... You'd have to remove the music surgically.

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

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.

I sing what I sing true. Each night I sing it the way I feel that night.

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

Nowadays they say you need a special chip to put in the TV so kids can't watch this and that. In my day, we didn't need a chip. My mom was the chip. End of story.

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.

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

You got to set your mind right and the rest will come to you naturally. No restrictions, no hang-ups, no stupid rules, no formalities, no forbidden fruit - just everyone getting and giving as much as he and she can.

Sighted people, you gotta deal with them.

I set my own rhythm, and I do believe it was usually a little faster than most other people's.

I always stay out of the rehearsal room you know when they first come in. Then once they had chance to play a little bit, then I walk in. Because I've seen guys fall apart.

There's such a thing as too much happiness and sadness. What I'm after is contentment.

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.

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

Art Tatum -- he was a genius. And Einstein, not me.

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

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

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

[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.

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.

I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won't lay, a big stack of bills that gets bigger each day.

I'm not a jazz singer, blues singer or country singer. I'm a singer that can sing rhythm & blues, that can sing jazz, that can sing country. There's a big difference. In other words, I'm not a specialist.

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

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.

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

If somebody don't like something that I do, that's his or her prerogative. Just like it's mine.

Women anchor me. They're there when I need them. They're sensitive to me, and I'm sensitive to them. I'm not saying I've loved that many women.

Hit the road Jack, don'tcha come back no more, no more, no more, no more. Hit the road Jack, don'tcha come back no more.

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.

Goodbye don't mean gone.

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.

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 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.

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

The role of the designer is basically that of a good host, anticipating the needs of the guest.

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

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.

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.'

Even though I'm not Jewish...Israel is one of the few causes I feel good about supporting.

I don't sing a song unless I feel it. The song don't tug at my heart, I pass on it. I have to believe in what I'm doing.

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