James Brown Quotes

James Brown shares plain-spoken, uplifting thoughts on life, family, and identity for anyone looking for heartfelt encouragement.

67 quotes

1. A colored is a very frightened-to-death Afro-American. A Negro is one that makes it in the system, and he wants to be white. A nigger, he's loud and boisterous, wants to be seen. Nobody likes a nigger. A black man has pride. He wants to build, he wants to make his race mean something. Wants to have a culture and art forms. And he's not prejudiced. I am a black American man. Now you go ahead and print it.

2. 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.

3. I would warn against anyone marrying a person with more than a ten-year age difference. It almost never works. It is difficult to find things to talk about, to use similar reference points, and to operate at the same speed of life. Another problem is that both sides usually don't want the same things at the same time.

4. This is an issue couples have to be straight on and agree on before they walk down that aisle; otherwise there is no way their marriage will survive.

5. To make it in life, you and your wife need to be in the same business. That has been my problem all along. My wives didn't know what I was doing. I would come back home from the road to a stranger. That's no good.

6. Hair is the first thing. And teeth the second. Hair and teeth. A man got those two things he's got it all.

7. 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.'

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. I'm going away tonight.

12. Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown; you know what I'm saying?

13. I did the thing with bonds, which was about 30 million dollars, and didn't get none of the money on them.

14. I felt like the blacks had gotten lost in musical trends in some ways, and got away from what they were really looking for.

15. I got a wife who likes expensive things, so she takes all the cash.

16. I hope you live 200 years, and that I live 200 years minus one day, so I never know beautiful people like you passed away.

17. I named my new son James Joseph Brown II. I think he's going to be a lot better than I was.

18. 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.

19. I taught them everything they know, but not everything I know.

20. I tell my wife, You got plenty of time left. Don't live so fast. Slow down and live, and don't try to catch up.

21. I thank God for the Apollo Theater. When I saw those people, that was the awards.

22. 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.

23. I think what I came through is great, but my son can take it to another level, not having to fight racism. His mother's a Norwegian and I'm mixed up four or five times, so he can face the world.

24. 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.

25. I want to say to the young people, Honor thy father and thy mother. Your days will be longer and more fruitful.

26. I want to say to you, Help yourself, so you can help someone else.

27. I was stillborn. The midwives laid me aside, thought I was really gone. I laid there about an hour, and they picked me back up and tried again, 'cause my body was still warm. The Good Lord brought me back.

28. I'm not going to be joining ZZ Top. You know they can't play my stuff. It's too complicated.

29. I've outdone anyone you can name -- Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Strauss. Irving Berlin, he wrote 1,001 tunes. I wrote 5,500.

30. 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.

31. Now, we own a publishing house that's way up in the billions of dollars and gets bigger and bigger. That's probably the only thing that makes me look like Bill Gates!

32. 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.

33. Sometimes I feel like I'm a preacher as well, 'cause I can really get into an audience.

34. The hardest thing about being James Brown is I have to live. I don't have no down time.

35. The one thing that can solve most of our problems is dancing.

36. You can take care of yourself, and God helps those who help themselves.

37. You can't teach others if you are living the same way.

38. Get on up, stay on the scene, get on up, like a sex machine.

39. Got ants in my pants and I need to dance, so big fine mama, come give me a chance.

40. I'm kidding about having only a few dollars. I might have a few dollars more.

41. I've been knocked down a lot of times.

42. You got to use what you got to get just what you want.

43. I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself)

44. 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.

45. Take those kids and raise them up, teach them how to drink out of a righteous cup.

46. When I'm on stage, I'm trying to do one thing: bring people joy.

47. You got to live for yourself, yourself and nobody else.

48. I've got soul and I'm super bad.

49. Don't let nobody take care of your business better than you.

50. 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.

51. Our silence is deafening and deadly.

52. You're like a dull knife, it just ain't cutting.

53. Everybody over there, get on up. Everybody out there, get into it. Everybody right there, get involved.

54. I don't know karate, but I know crazy.

55. What everybody's looking for today, they're looking for escape-ism.

56. Takes a man or a woman to say I'm sorry, and it takes a fool to walk away.

57. When God took it, he accepted it; when he brought it back, he accepted it. That's what's happening with me.

58. The white horse of heroin will ride you to hell.

59. This is a revolution of the mind, get your mind together and get away from drugs.

60. Some like them fat, some like them tall, some like them short, skinny legs and all. I like them all.

61. We can never be like it was at Penn State with Joe Paterno. That was an anomaly in an of itself.

62. I've been held responsible for taxes I know nothing about.

63. My expectations of other people, I double them on myself.

64. Thank God for the journey.

65. Sometimes, you like to let the hair do the talking!

66. 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.

67. I'd like to cut down on the work a little bit.