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

- Ray Charles

"I hear like you see – like that hummingbird outside that window for instance."

- Ray Charles

"I release feelings inside me through my songs. I take some of the sadness, some of the heartache, and turn it out. I’m able to stave off the severity. By expressing myself in music, I can soften the blow. But those melodies and rhythms can only do so much."

- Ray Charles

"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."

- Ray Charles

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

- Ray Charles