If anything I consider myself non-violent. I'm from the hippy era, peace, love, groovy.

I can't hang out as loose as I used to, but I can still go down Jefferson Avenue and look in the faces of winos, pimps and junkies, all the things I'm made of.

Funkers are people who dig the funk; Little funkers, Big funkers, Old funkers, Young funkers, Foxy funkers, Mother funkers, Papa funkers.

Whether you're rich or poor, life's still cold-blooded.

She's the kind you don't take home to mother.

My teacher said I would either be a hoodlum, or a great entertainer.

I just live one day at a time.

I'm still James Johnson. Rick James is a stage name. James Johnson keeps Rick James on the ground... Kind of sort of.

You and I, we'll be together 'til the six is nine.

Off stage it's cool-out time. You can't funk and roll ALL the time.

Punk Funk means to be one with yourself. To be rebellious, aggressive, able to do and say what you feel at all times, without inflicting mental or spiritual pain.

Be your own kind of beautiful.

The only times I'm consistent about praying are when I'm on an airplane or when an ambulance goes by.

Now that I'm losing some, I can see how tough I was -- the killer instinct, the single-mindedness, playing like a machine. Boy, that's what made me a champion.

[On hearing that Clare Boothe Luce was invariably kind to her inferiors:] And where does she find them?

Black frost. The ground is hard, the air tastes bitter. Your stars cluster in evil signs.

Once you accept you're a child in the government nursery, why shouldn't Nanny tell you what to do?

Most of those people who saw themselves as literary types at university became bank managers.

I have a big job on my hands now, there is no mistaking that, but I feel as though I have calmness within myself. (on being Manchester City manager)

All artists need a room of their own

Water is the most expressive element in nature. It responds to every mood from tranquility to turbulence.