“If I don’t have a mother, I’ll let music be my mother.”

A person’s age can be determined by the degree of pain he experiences when he comes in contact with a new idea.

I improvised my life along the way – I just moved step-by-step. And I knew that if I got better, something would happen.

Arts is just as important as military defense, you know? Emotional defense is just as important.

I look back and say, “This must have been somebody else.” I am not going to tell you that when I was 4, I dreamed about all of this.

Greatness occurs when your children love you, when your critics respect you and when you have peace of mind.

Excellence isn’t an act, it’s a habit.

If architecture is frozen music then music must be liquid architecture.

Editing while you’re writing is like strangling the baby in the crib.

Hell, nobody knows where jazz is going to go. There may be a kid right now in Chitlin Switch, Georgia, who is going to come along and upset everybody.

A bad song, the three best singers in the world cannot save it, and that’s the bottom line.

When I was about five or seven years old my mother was placed in a mental institution and so we were with our father who worked very hard, and we had to figure a lot of things out.

I don’t deserve a Songwriters Hall of Fame Award. But fifteen years ago, I had a brain operation and I didn’t deserve that, either. So I’ll keep it.

You cannot get an A if you’re afraid of getting an F.

My son is a hip-hop producer.

It’s amazing how much trouble you can get in when you don’t have anything else to do.

I was the most subtle person in the world.

I tried writing a song and it wasn’t very good. I sung it to my mom and she told me it was bad – but I was eight, so it’s okay.

Ain’t a woman alive that could take my mama’s place.

You’re still beautiful to me, cause youre my mom.

You’re still beautiful to me, cause youre my mom.

I never thought about college, but my mom thought about it for me. I knew 100 percent it wasn’t for me.

I never thought about college, but my mom thought about it for me. I knew 100 percent it wasn’t for me.

One of the greatest pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten in my life was from my mom.

One of the greatest pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten in my life was from my mom.