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."

What makes my approach special is that I do different things. I do jazz, blues, country music and so forth. I do them all, like a good utility man.

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."

Music is my life, professionally, for nearly 60 years. To be recognized by the academy is still the highest honor.

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

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

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.

I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't been able to hear.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we're here to explore new possibilities.

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

I am very into lyrics. I start with what the words are saying, what the storyline is saying, like a good script. It should really capture me, do something for me. If I don't get it, it's not going to move people, and if it's not going to move people, it's not going to happen.

I don't know about other writers, but for myself, to write I must be relatively quiet - it's very difficult to write with the telephone and the doorbell ringing and conversation going on; I'm not that good a writer to write through all that!

I met Quincy Jones in Seattle. We were kids together... liked each other when we met and have been close ever since. He wasn't writing when we met - in fact, I more or less started him off to write; voicing, harmony, and stuff like that.

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.

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've always been the kind of person who, if there's anything that can kill me, I want to know something about it.

Mama was a country woman with a whole lot of common sense. She understood what most of our neighbors didn't - that I shouldn't grow dependent on anyone except myself. 'One of these days, I ain't gonna be here,' she kept hammering inside my head.

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

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.

People couldn't understand why my mama would have this blind kid out doing things like cutting wood for the fire. But her thing was: He may be blind, but he ain't stupid.

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.'

To me, music is entertainment - what else can it be? In fact, it's the only language I know of that's universal.

With singing, the name of the game is to make yourself believable. When somebody hears you sing a song, and they say, 'Oh, that must have happened to him,' that's when you know you're transmitting. It's like being a good actor. You make people feel things, emotions and what not.

Dreams, if they're any good, are always a little bit crazy.

Music is to me like breathing. I don't get tired of breathing, I don't get tire of music!

Music to me is like breathing. I don't get tired of breathing, I don't get tired of music.

Music is about the only thing left that people don't fight over.

The accepted versions of the Bible are all substantially correct.

As I have studied the Bible and the Book of Mormon, I have come to know through the power of the Spirit of God, that these books contain the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I have continued systematically to study the Book of Mormon and Bible to understand even more deeply what God expects of me and my family while on this earth.

There are any number of people who profess to be good Christian people who are willing to believe all kinds of things on suspicion. Now that is not the way the Bible directs for Christian people to do.

Many of us view the bible and other religious teachings as mythology.

It is to be deeply regretted that the clergymen would oppose an effort to teach the people the Bible truths; nevertheless, we find much opposition everywhere, and many clergymen will attempt to prevent the people from reading what is here written.

If the president is going to use so much language of theology and the Bible, then let's use that language for a serious discussion about the war in Iraq. And that was never done.

So after the Lewinsky scandal, everything changed, and we moved from using the Bible to address the moral issues of our time, which were social, to moral issues of our time that were very personal. I have continued that relationship up until the present.

There are matters in the Bible, said to be done by the express commandment of God, that are shocking to humanity and to every idea we have of moral justice.

When I commit, I commit with my whole heart, my whole being. I know the Bible like the back of my hand.

The English Bible - a book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.

I've read the last page of the Bible. It's all going to turn out all right.

Intense study of the Bible will keep any writer from being vulgar, in point of style.

Accordingly the Northern races of Europe found their inspiration in the Bible; and the enthusiasm for it has not yet quite faded away.

No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means.