“Do it right or don't do it at all.”
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (1998)
Context: Do it right or don't do it at all. That comes from my mom. If there's something I want to do, I'm one of those people that won't be satisfied until I get it done. If I'm trying to sing something and I can't get it, I'm going to keep at it until I get where I want it.
For the Love of Women, p. 239
Brother Ray : Ray Charles' Own Story (1978)
Context: Women anchor me. They're there when I need them. They're sensitive to me, and I'm sensitive to them. I'm not saying I've loved that many women. Love is a special word, and I use it only when I mean it. You say the word too much and it becomes cheap.
But sex is something else. I'm not sure that there can ever be too much sex. To me, it's another one of our daily requirements — like eating. If I go twenty-four hours without it, I get hungry. Sex needs to be open and fun, free and happy. It's whatever you make it, and I try my hardest to create situations where me and my woman can enjoy ourselves — all of ourselves — without our inhibitions getting in the way.
You got to set your mind right and the rest will come to you naturally. No restrictions, no hang-ups, no stupid rules, no formalities, no forbidden fruit — just everyone getting and giving as much as he and she can.
“You better live every day like your last because one day you're going to be right.”
As quoted in Wisdom for the Soul of Black Folk (2007) by Larry Chang and Roderick Terry, p. 365
"What'd I Say", from the album What'd I Say (1957)
Home, p. 1
Brother Ray : Ray Charles' Own Story (1978)
"What'd I Say", from the album What'd I Say (1957)