Ray Charles Quotes
"My music had roots which I'd dug up from my own childhood, musical roots buried in the darkest soil."
- Ray Charles
(Related: Music, Childhood)
"The fact of the matter is, you don't give up what's natural. Anything I've fantasized about, I've done."
- Ray Charles
(Related: Fact)
"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
(Related: People, Man, Song, State)
"Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory."
- Ray Charles
(Related: Music, Learning, Memory, Play)
"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
(Related: Music, Time, Want)
"There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we're here to explore new possibilities."
- Ray Charles
(Related: Life, First, Possibilities)
"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
(Related: Food, Music, Heart, Blood, Force, Necessity, Water)
"I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great."
- Ray Charles
(Related: Famous)
"I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't been able to hear."
- 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
(Related: Society, Being, Blind, Poor)
"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
(Related: People, Poverty)
"Music is my life, professionally, for nearly 60 years. To be recognized by the academy is still the highest honor."
- Ray Charles
(Related: Music, Life, Honor, Years)
"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
(Related: Bible, New testament, Nothing, Old)
"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
(Related: Soul, Electricity, Force, Light)
"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
(Related: Music, Country, Country music, Jazz, Man)