Popular

Browse Popular Topics

Quotes by Ray Charles

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.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't been able to hear.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.
– Ray Charles
Love is a special word, and I use it only when I mean it. You say the word too much and it becomes cheap.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
My music had roots which I'd dug up from my own childhood, musical roots buried in the darkest soil.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
The fact of the matter is, you don't give up what's natural. Anything I've fantasized about, I've done.
– Ray Charles
There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we're here to explore new possibilities.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
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.
– Ray Charles
Music is my life, professionally, for nearly 60 years. To be recognized by the academy is still the highest honor.
– Ray Charles