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.

Music is nothing separate from me. It is me... You'd have to remove the music surgically.

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

Just like you can buy grades of silk, you can buy grades of justice.

Hit the road Jack, don'tcha come back no more, no more, no more, no more. Hit the road Jack, don'tcha come back no more.

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.

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.