Ray Charles Quotes and Sayings - Page 1
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“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 CharlesSource : Ray Charles (2004). “Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story”
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“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.”
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“Music to me is like breathing. I don't get tired of breathing, I don't get tired of music.”
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“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 -
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“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 CharlesSource : Ray Charles, David Ritz (2004). “Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story”, p.169, Da Capo Press
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“Even though I'm not Jewish...Israel is one of the few causes I feel good about supporting.”
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“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 CharlesSource : Ray Charles, David Ritz (2004). “Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story”, p.155, Da Capo Press
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“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 -
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“I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't been able to hear.”
-- Ray Charles -
“Music is about the only thing left that people don't fight over.”
-- Ray CharlesSource : "Ray Charles: What I've Learned" by Mike Sager, www.esquire.com. January 29, 2007.
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“The important thing is to feel your music, really feel it and believe it.”
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“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.”
-- Ray Charles -
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“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 -
“Just like you can buy grades of silk, you can buy grades of justice.”
-- 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.”
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“If somebody don't like something that I do, that's his or her prerogative. Just like it's mine.”
-- Ray Charles -
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“Music is the chalk to the blackboard of life. Without it everything is a blank slate”
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“Rhythm and blues used to be called race music. ... This music was going on for years, but nobody paid any attention to 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 -
“Just because you can't see anything , doesn't mean you should shut your eyes.”
-- Ray Charles -
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“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.”
-- Ray Charles -
“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”
-- Ray Charles -
“Women anchor me. They're there when I need them. They're sensitive to me, and I'm sensitive to them. I'm not saying I've loved that many women.”
-- Ray Charles -
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“I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won't lay, a big stack of bills that gets bigger each day.”
-- Ray Charles -
“I know it sounds strange - a blind teenager buzzin' round on a motorcycle - but I liked that; that was me. I had always been nervy, and I always had a lot of faith in my ability not to break my neck.”
-- Ray Charles -
“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 -
“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.”
-- Ray Charles -
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“I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind.”
-- Ray Charles -
“All my life I've always been so blue, born to lose, and now I'm losing you.”
-- Ray Charles
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