Explore Quotes by Ray Charles

There's such a thing as too much happiness and sadness. What I'm after is contentment.

The important thing is to feel your music, really feel it and believe it.

Don't go backwards - you've already been there.

What I've got to live up to, is being myself. If I do that, the rest will take care of itself.

If somebody don't like something that I do, that's his or her prerogative. Just like it's mine.

Music is the chalk to the blackboard of life. Without it everything is a blank slate

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.

Just because you can't see anything , doesn't mean you should shut your eyes.

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

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.

Music is nothing separate from me. It is me... You'd have to remove the music surgically.

I heard someone say that all black people got rhythm. Bullshit.

Just like you can buy grades of silk, you can buy grades of justice.

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.

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.

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 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 fact of the matter is, you don't give up what's natural. Anything I've fantasized about, I've done.

Even though I'm not Jewish...Israel is one of the few causes I feel good about supporting.

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.

The role of the designer is basically that of a good host, anticipating the needs of the guest.