Quote

[On his heroin addiction:] 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

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Ray Charles
Age: 71 †
Born: 1932
Born: September 23
Died: 2004
Died: June 10
Composer
Jazz Musician
Music Arranger
Musician
Pianist
Recording Artist
Saxophonist
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Soul Musician
Vocalist
Albany
Georgia
Ray Charles Robinson
Raymond Charles Robinson Peter
Wasn
Poor
Society
Black
Pusher
Heroin
Addiction
Blind

More quotes by Ray Charles

Image
The role of the designer is basically that of a good host, anticipating the needs of the guest.
Ray Charles
Image
Goodbye don't mean gone.
Ray Charles
Image
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
Image
I never said I was a genius. I never said I was a cornerstone. I've never said I'm a legend in my own time. You never heard me say nothing like that.
Ray Charles
Image
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.
Ray Charles
Image
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 do.
Ray Charles
Image
Many times during auditions, I was told that I couldn't carry a note with a bucket, and that I sure couldn't play the piano.
Ray Charles
Image
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
Image
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
Image
It's like Duke Ellington said, there are only two kinds of music - good and bad. And you can tell when something is good.
Ray Charles
Image
There's such a thing as too much happiness and sadness. What I'm after is contentment.
Ray Charles
Image
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
Image
Just like you can buy grades of silk, you can buy grades of justice.
Ray Charles
Image
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
Image
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 the guy to get bent out of shape, because I walk in.
Ray Charles
Image
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.
Ray Charles
Image
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
Image
Just because you can't see anything , doesn't mean you should shut your eyes.
Ray Charles
Image
I had to pawn my clothes just to pay my rent.
Ray Charles
Image
There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we're here to explore new possibilities.
Ray Charles