There is not a lot that keeps me glued to the radio as I used to be.

I'm still trying to re-create a Ray Charles concert that I heard when I was fifteen years old, and all my nerve endings were fried and transformed, and electricity shot through me.

My parents were music lovers and collectors. It was around.

My first love was the sound of guitar.

My songwriting and my style became more complex as I listened, learned, borrowed and stole and put my music together.

As far as other instrumentalists, I used to love mellow sax players like Paul Desmond. I love piano.

I think the women - Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu - are doing new conceptual things and using their voices to create new American music.

I listened to classical guitar and Spanish guitar, as well as jazz guitar players, rock and roll and blues. All of it. I did the same thing with my voice.

My earliest influences were things I heard in my household.

I'm not a jazz singer.

I am not a jazz singer. I wouldn't place myself on that footing. I wouldn't even enter that arena.

A true leader should have the power to begin, the eloquence to communicate, the patience to execute and the wisdom to evaluate. Without one, he remains a slave to he who possesses it.

Courage doesn't mean never being afraid. We're all afraid sometimes. Bravery means doing the right thing anyway. That's true strength.

Inhaling, I am ignited with the first breath of freedom

When someone is happy and satisfied with himself and things around him, divine grace resides at his face.

All lasting business is built on friendship.

Jobs are created by businesses, especially small and mid-sized businesses.

The true way to gain much is never to desire to gain too much.

However they may have felt when they left they were now committed, they had passed the point of no return.

anything a guy can do a girl can do better...except being stupid

The Gospels and the rest of the New Testament reflect the life of Jesus, what it means for us & what it means for the world.