“There’s no way around grief and loss: you can dodge all you want, but sooner or later you just have to go into it, through it, and, hopefully, come out the other side. The world you find there will never be the same as the world you left.”

Creative people have to be fed from the divine source. I have to get fed. I had to get filled up in order to pour out.

It’s good to believe in yourself, but there are people out there who can make or break you.

It takes a real man to live for God-a lot more man than to live for the devil, you know? If you really want to live right these days, you gotta be tough.

My arms are too short to box with God.

Until things are brighter. I’m the man in black.

Love is a burning thing and it makes a firey ring.

There is a spiritual side to me that goes real deep, but I confess right up front that I’m the biggest sinner of them all.

I came to believe in a power much higher than I.

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine I keep my eyes wide open all the time I keep the ends out for the tie that binds Because you’re mine, I walk the line.

You can ask the people around me. I don’t give up. I don’t give up. I don’t give – and it’s not out of frustration and desperation that I say I don’t give up. I don’t give up because I don’t give up. I don’t believe in it.

The fire and excitement may be gone now that we don’t go out there and sing them anymore, but the ring of fire still burns around you and I, keeping our love hotter than a pepper sprout.

A person knows when it just seems to feel right to them. Listen to your heart.

When I think about country music, I think about America.

If you’re going to be a Christian, you’re going to change. You’re going to lose some old friends, not because you want to, but because you need to.

Life is the question and life is the answer, and God is the reason and love is the way.

The more I learn, the more excited I get.

It is in changing that we find purpose.

If something is not working out, change the method, but don’t change your mind.

Every person that steps up and commits to social change helps solidify the black movement cause. It is not easy for those who fill in the leader role.

One moment can change your life. You just need to be ready to explore, be ready to experiment and be consistent.

If a man like Malcolm X could change and repudiate racism, if I myself and other former Muslims can change, if young whites can change, then there is hope for America.

Your body doesn’t need to change – the way you think about it does.

Change the narrative. It will change your mindset.  

All great change in America begins at the dinner table.