In this country, don't forget, a habit is no damn private hell. There's no solitary confinement outside of jail. A habit is hell for those you love. And in this country it's the worst kind of hell for those who love you.

You've got to have something to eat and a little love in your life before you can hold still for any damn body's sermon on how to behave.

I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession. If you can, then it ain't music, it's close order drill, or exercise or yodeling or something, not music.

Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen and I was three.

God has blessed you when he lets you believe in somebody.

I don't think I ever sing the same way twice. The blues is sort of a mixed-up thing. You just have to feel it. Anything I do sing is part of my life.

New Orleans is the only city in the world you go in to buy a pair of nylon stockings they want to know your head size.