Quotes from Charles Bradley

I can't make nobody believe in God. I can't tell you. But you got to experience it for yourself. When you find the true meaning of a spiritual gift, of what God give you? Nothing on this planet can give you that much joy.

I'm 62 years old, but I didn't give up on my dreams. I just feel that God heard my cry, and he put the right people in front of me.

I have a routine to work on my vocals. I always get some honey and some extra virgin olive oil to coat my throat, and I go to bed.

Back in the day, I was afraid to speak out. When I get music behind me, it feels like I can soothe the hurt and put it in vocals and say it to the room the way I feel it.

I never knew about racial segregation until Martin Luther King.

If you want to give a show, make it real, and people will listen to you more carefully.

I can't be angry at God. Look at all the love that he gave us. Look at the beautiful planet that he gave us.

When I got out of Job Corps, I was an empty shell. I didn't know what to do with myself.

We've got to learn how to not look at creed or color. Look at how beautiful a bouquet of roses looks like - different color roses, all look beautiful. We have to learn how to let our beauty of the color of our roses shine to the world.

My faith in God is totally... there's nothing on this planet that can change my faith and love for God. Because I believe that's who kept me strong, who kept me going through all the darkness and brought me through the darkness into the light.

If we don't change this world and look inside our differences inside of us, we gonna bring this world back to a hard point.

When I was a child, it was segregated, and I couldn't go across a fence to certain parts of Gainesville.

I've fell flat on my face so many times, I'd rather be alone. I learned from the mistake, but I know I'm going to turn around and do it all over again.

I've always been a person who wanted to withdraw from the world, because the changes I've been through, I just don't want to go through anymore.

I hope my music can help many nations all over the world see that the true things come out of the earth, and then they go back into the earth. But the true love you have to find within yourself and learn to respect one another from nation to nation.

I was determined not to sit around and watch my life deteriorate. I kept reaching out in hope and honesty that someone would find me. I never gave up hope. I fell flat on my face and got up again.

If you're a real person, I don't care if you blue - I'm going to be your friend. Everybody's tired of all of the hatred and animosity. I just want to live.

When I feel it, I got it, 'cause, like, on 'Changes,' I didn't never know what that song was, never knew who it was or who did it, but Tom Brenneck asked me to do that song.

It's not that I imitate him. I use a lot of what I feel. Even now, they refuse for me to stop doing James Brown. If it's something I can feel from the heart and from the soul, I do it.

I just have to open up when I'm on stage because that's what I did in my life. I want people to know what I've been through, and the love and the honesty that I have kept inside me. I just open my heart and let my heart go free.

A real good artist learns to be a better person through all the changes they've been through. They keep their loving and honesty growing and learn to look at the world and not be full of hatred.

I like to see the joy in people's' faces. I like to see when they actually question that I'm not afraid to answer and give them my respect and honesty with what I have to say to them.

I was born in America. I was raised in America. And America truly has done me a lot of dirt, a lot of horrible things that I never will forget, but I know this is where I was born at.

What I hope is if you turn on the news tonight, I want to find a way to stop all this corruption I see.