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.

More Quotes by Ray Charles

I'm a firm believer in God himself, but that's as far as I can go. I'm not any denomination. I'm not Catholic or Presbyterian or Baptist or Methodist or Jewish or Muslim. I'm none of those things. And I'm sure that's just fine with God.

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

Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.

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.

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

Music is powerful. As people listen to it, they can be affected. They respond.