Ray Charles Quotes 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.
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 don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't been able to hear.
I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great.
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.
Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.
Love is a special word, and I use it only when I mean it. You say the word too much and it becomes cheap.
Music is my life, professionally, for nearly 60 years. To be recognized by the academy is still the highest honor.
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.
My music had roots which I'd dug up from my own childhood, musical roots buried in the darkest soil.
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.
The fact of the matter is, you don't give up what's natural. Anything I've fantasized about, I've done.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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AuthorName
Ray Charles
Profession
Musician
BirthDate
23 September, 1930
DeathDate
10 June, 2004
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