When I'm on stage, I'm trying to do one thing: bring people joy.
For goodness sake, look at those cakes.
My music wasn't written by Mozart, Beethoven, Bach or Schubert. It's written by God and me. They go "a one and a two and up." We start on the downbeat. Bam! And that's where we got them.
I just thank God for all of the blessings.
When I'm on stage, I'm trying to do one thing: bring people joy. Just like church does. People don't go to church to find trouble, they go there to lose it.
Thank God for the journey.
What everybody's looking for today, they're looking for escape-ism.
This is a revolution of the mind, get your mind together and get away from drugs.
Music has to breathe and sweat. You have to play it live.
It's a Man's Man's Man's World
I don't know karate, but I know crazy.
Like Christ said, love thee one another. I learned to do that, and I learned to respect and be appreciative and thankful for what I had.
As I always said, if people wanted to know who James Brown is, all they have to do is listen to my music.
I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself)
I'm kidding about having only a few dollars. I might have a few dollars more.
Takes a man or a woman to say I'm sorry, and it takes a fool to walk away.
I got a wife who likes expensive things, so she takes all the cash.
Money won't change you, but time will take you out.
I'm not going to be joining ZZ Top. You know they can't play my stuff. It's too complicated.
When you touch me, good God.
I used to think like Moses. That knocked me down for a couple years and put me in prison. Then I start thinking like Job. Job waited and became the wealthiest and richest man ever 'cause he believed in God.
Hair is the first thing. And teeth the second. Hair and teeth. A man got those two things he's got it all.
The one thing that can solve most of our problems is dancing.
I'm the most sampled and stolen. What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine, too... I got a song about that... But I'm never gonna release it. Don't want a war with the rappers. If it wasn't good, they wouldn't steal it.
Our silence is deafening and deadly.
In our advanced technological age, most people deny the possibility of miracles.... Miracles don't happen, we are told, because they contravene the laws of nature and worse, they sound religious! Yet we live and move in a sea of miracle.
Everybody over there, get on up. Everybody out there, get into it. Everybody right there, get involved.
I've got soul and I'm super bad.
The hardest thing about being James Brown is I have to live. I don't have no down time.
I don't know karate, but I know ka-razy!
It doesn't matter how you travel it, it's the same road. It doesn't get any easier when you get bigger, it gets harder. And it will kill you if you let it.
I taught them everything they know, but not everything I know.
You can take care of yourself, and God helps those who help themselves.
My expectations of other people, I double them on myself.
The white horse of heroin will ride you to hell.
You're like a dull knife, just ain't cuttin', just talkin' loud and saying nothing
Sometimes I feel like I'm a preacher as well, 'cause I can really get into an audience.
Some like them fat, some like them tall, some like them short, skinny legs and all. I like them all.
Thank God that I had the ability to understand that I had a different beat and that I was a drummer.
I only got a seventh-grade education, but I have a doctorate in funk, and I like to put that to good use
I'm twice as old, but I feel good.
Retire for what? What would I do? I made my name as a person that is helping. I'm like Moses in the music business.
Michael Jackson has a very good heart. He was crying when he was giving me the award, 'cause his mind went back over the early days.
We can never be like it was at Penn State with Joe Paterno. That was an anomaly in an of itself.
You're like a dull knife, it just ain't cutting.
I used to play one job and have 125 pair of shoes on the floor. What was I doing? I couldn't wear but one pair.
I had to tell about my colonic, which expresses the fact why I'm so neat today as opposed to a few years ago. I never knew that the weight made that much difference.
Got ants in my pants and I need to dance, so big fine mama, come give me a chance.
Don't terrorize. Organize. Don't burn. Give kids a chance to learn . . . The real answer to race problems in this country is education. Not burning and killing. Be ready. Be qualified. Own something. Be somebody. That's Black Power.
Get on up, stay on the scene, get on up, like a sex machine.
Don't let nobody take care of your business better than you.
I've been knocked down a lot of times.
I named my new son James Joseph Brown II. I think he's going to be a lot better than I was.
I've outdone anyone you can name - Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Strauss. Irving Berlin, he wrote 1,001 tunes. I wrote 5,500.
I did the thing with bonds, which was about 30 million dollars, and didn't get none of the money on them.
Take those kids and raise them up, teach them how to drink out of a righteous cup.
Music, it requires more than brawn. It requires a lot of heart. You gotta put love in there.
I'd rather be Jack be smart, than Jack be quick. Watch out for the man with the big fat licking stick.
I don't really care what people think, ... I just do my own thing. ... I like being loud and letting people know I'm there.
I want to say to you: Help yourself, so you can help someone else.
You can't teach others if you are living the same way.
If you don't get it the first time, back up and try it again.
Sometimes you struggle so hard to feed your family one way, you forget to feed them the other way, with spiritual nourishment. Everybody needs that.
Sometimes, you like to let the hair do the talking!
Papa didn't cuss, he didn't raise a whole lot of fuss. But when we did wrong, Papa beat the hell out of us.
You got to live for yourself, yourself and nobody else.
I think the best thing about being James Brown is looking at my little son. Hopefully I can make my son a role model to a lot of people.
I started Michael years ago. I saw him in Gary, Indiana, and we'd have him on the talent shows. He kind of emulated me, and did the best he could.
I've been held responsible for taxes I know nothing about.
My son don't have to say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud. He don't have to be called those crazy names.
I'm a ghetto man who made good. I never forgot where I came from and who put me on top - God and Jack The Rapper.
You got to use what you got to get just what you want.
Tell the politicians and the hustlers: live and let live.
