A lot of things I am, and a lot of things I am not. But I think I'm about as good an American as there is. I love this country. It's been very, very good to me. And it will be good to anybody if they are willing to give of themselves.

Somebody said he came from New Orleans, where he got in a fight over a Cajun queen. And a crushing blow from a huge right hand, sent a Louisiana fella to the Promised Land.

I've seen so many people in this business that made a fortune. They get old and broke and can't make any money. I tell you something... no one's going to play a benefit for Jimmy Dean.

Poverty was the greatest motivating factor in my life.

I used to help my granddaddy make sausage. He would mix it up in a cleaned-out washtub with his hands, no gloves. Man, if we did anything like that today, they would jack the jail up and throw us under it.

You gotta try your luck at least once a day, because you could be going around lucky all day and not even know it.

God is bigger than people think.