“Growing up my mother played Sarah Vaughan and Nat Cole in the house regularly.”

I always loved Sam Cooke, because he seemed very versatile. He sang gospel, soul, blues, pop music

I feel it was just a few years ago I was running around in short pants

My friends and I were wild and we liked to joy-ride.

I’ve been in some beautiful places, but the prettiest sight is flying back to New Orleans. Being able to look down and say, ‘I know where I am now.’

I don’t know much, but I know I love you… that may be all there is to know.

So I went in front of the judge, and I had my St. Jude prayer book in my pocket and my St. Jude medal. And I’m standing there and that judge said I was found guilty, so he sentenced me to what the law prescribed: one to 14 years.

It’s a thanksgiving to God. It’s something I have wanted to do for a long time, but the record company wasn’t ready for it. So I did it myself.

I sing around the house, in the shower

When you were a kid, a day was a long time and a year was a long time

Sometimes I sing along in the car, if something good is playing like Marvin Gaye.

Don’t be ashamed to let your conscience be your guide.

I really like listening to music in my car.

It’s a 360-degree sound experience. Like you’re in the middle of the band. A lot of people have the technology to play the format, so why not put it out there. It sounds great.

Until I went to rehab, I didn’t understand what it did.

I was raised Catholic, but my father’s people were Methodist, so we went to both churches.

My voice belongs to me, from God. People will comment, “Your voice helped me through.” Maybe it’s God in me, because I don’t take credit for that.

humans are born in truth, but we grow up believing in lies. one of the biggest lies in the story of humanity is the lie of our imperfection.

The most important beauty is not that with which you were born, but the beauty of character which grows through a woman’s life and maybe never stops growing.

One of the things I’ve had the advantage of, growing up and being close to the top management of this company and other companies for most of my life, is seeing how CEOs start to believe in their own infallibility. And that really scares me.

I’m from the Midwest, and I loved my family. I had a very good time as a child, but I was also – I have a theory about Jews growing up in the Midwest, that there is an ultimately sort of wonderful avoidance of a lot of things, and a great acceptance of whatever is happening.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder, a little bit, but there’s a certain maturity level that just comes with experience and growing up.

I don’t think I’d have been in such a hurry to reach adulthood if I’d known the whole thing was going to be ad-libbed.

Nothing has happened too fast, nothing has happened too slow. It has been a mellow rise, and I’m thankful for that. I haven’t lost my head, and I haven’t lost my desire to keep growing.

CALVIN: When I grow up I want to be an inventor. First I will invent a time machine. Then I’ll come back to yesterday and take myself to tomorrow and skip this dumb assignment.