Brian McKnight

I’m the fifth generation of Seventh Day Adventists and the youngest of four brothers. When I was still very small, we formed a gospel quartet.

Stevie didn’t use the technology to drive the song. He used it to enhance. I use the tools to further my work, I don’t use my work to further the tools.

Jazz is about improvisation and the moment in time, doing it this way now and you’ll never do it this way twice.

The fans dictate to you when you’re done!

He knows I rip him off every day. He’s the godfather for me. Nobody can say they aren’t influenced by what Stevie Wonder has done.

A fine timepiece is part of dressing like a gentleman. When I first made a little money, I bought my first watch which was a Rolex Daytona. It was just one of those things that said I was successful.

I’ve put up with more humiliation than I care to remember.

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

Beware of monotony; it’s the mother of all the deadly sins.

We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity.

If you don’t know what it is you want – and I mean specifically – then you won’t even know when you have it.

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.

Unless you know who you are, you will always be vulnerable to what people say.

I feel like I got a pile of cattle chasing my ass, and I’m pedaling as hard as I can to stay in front of ‘em. I’m looking behind me driving like hell.

Individualism is what makes cooperation worth living.

There are lies, damned lies and statistics.

Sometimes you have to make the right decision, and sometimes you have to make the decision right.

A man can’t ‘just be friends’ with another woman. Period.

Scream in silence. Dance in stillness.

Much depends on people knowing what opportunity means; it doesn’t mean a silver platter, it oftener means a spade. Self-help means something sterner than ‘help yourself’–reach over and take it.