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 ha….

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….

I really feel that if you're gonna be good, you gotta practice... Practice whatever the hell you do..

I'm not a jazz singer, blues singer or country singer. I'm a singer that can sing rhythm & blues, that can sing jazz, that can sing country. There's ….

I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind..

I used to sing like Nat King Cole. I mean he was the guy when I was comin' up, and you know, man, people used to say of me, "Damn, he sure do sound l….

It's like Duke Ellington said, there are only two kinds of music - good and bad. And you can tell when something is good..

When I'm having a rehearsal and there are new guys who come in to try out for the job, I always let my conductor rehearse them. Because I don't want ….

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 ….

I think that most great artists who are extremely known, as I am, would intimidate a lot of people. I don't want to do that to people, but I know I d….

Art Tatum -- he was a genius. And Einstein, not me..

I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great..

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 bl….

Music to me is just like breathing. I have to have it. It's part of me..

Nowadays they say you need a special chip to put in the TV so kids can't watch this and that. In my day, we didn't need a chip. My mom was the chip. ….

Love is a special word, and I use it only when I mean it. You say the word too much and it becomes cheap..

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

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 f….

I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won't lay, a big stack of bills that gets bigger each day..