Ray Charles > Quotes

“Dreams, if they're any good, are always a little bit crazy. ”
― Ray Charles

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

“I never wanted to be famous; I only wanted to be great.”
― Ray Charles

“Goodbye don't mean gone.”
― 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 really feel that if you're gonna be good, you gotta practice... Practice whatever the hell you do.”
― Ray Charles

“Learning to read music in Braille & play by ear helped me develop a [very] good memory.”
― Ray Charles

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

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

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

✓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.
✓Don't go backwards - you've already been there.
✓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.
✓Sometimes my dreams are so deep that I dream that I'm dreaming.


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

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

✓Absence makes the heart grow fonder and tears are only rain to make love grow.
✓If you can play the blues, you can do anything.
✓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.

✓Rhythm and blues used to be called race music. ... This music was going on for years, but nobody paid any attention to it.
✓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 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.
✓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 dinn”
― 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 suppose I've always done my share of crying, especially when there's no other way to contain my feelings. I know that men ain't supposed to cry, but I think that's wrong. 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.”
― Ray Charles

“Everyone has a point of view,' Mama used to say to me, 'and everyone is entitled to one. So, don't judge them Leave them alone.”
― Ray Charles, Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story

“Affluence separates people. Poverty knits 'em together.”
― Ray Charles, Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story

“In my day, living where I did, I was taught to say 'yes, sir' and 'yes ma'am.' I was taught respect.
On the one hand, adults in Greensville also showed respect for kids. You rarely heard a grown-up curse in front of a child, for example. Kids were taught to mind their manners all right, but as far as I could tell, the older folk set a decent example.”
― Ray Charles, Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story

“The most vicious weapon is the tongue,' Mama said, 'and it can hurt you worse than anyone.'

Mama also said 'A dog who will bring a bone, will carry one.”
― Ray Charles, Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story

“Happy as a mud duck in the rain ...”
― Ray Charles, Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story