Ray Charles Quotes

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.'

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

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'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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Goodbye don't mean gone.

[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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

I was born with music inside me

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.