"I'm not perfect. Nobody's perfect. But I try to be the best I can be."

"I had to learn how to be a man, and the way I learned how to be a man was to learn how to be a black man. And that's a hard thing to do in America."

"I'm a survivor. I've been through a lot. But I always come back."

"I got to keep my voice strong. It's my instrument."

"I'm not trying to be anybody else. I'm just trying to be James Brown."