Aaron Neville

“Every day, some act of kindness comes my way, even if it's just someone opening the door. It happens every day if you keep an eye out for it. Keeping an eye out, that's the key.”

“I always tell people I want to see the world through His eyes, and I want people to see Him in me.”

“People are living a lot longer these days and not preparing for it. I'm in the gym and, you know, using my voice.”

“I used to always sing my way into the movies and the basketball games or whatever. I'd sing for whoever's on the door, and they'd let me in. I used to think I was Nat King Cole back in the day, you know. So I'd sing something like, 'Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa, men have named you,' and they'd let me in.”

“We used to play football on the levee, with no shirts on in the summer - August in New Orleans - and my skin would turn red. They'd call me Redskin, Red Apache, then it turned around to Apache Red.”

“I'm here now because of my faith. That's what got me singing and what has kept me singing. That is what I have: what has kept me doing right and has provided me with the chances and the attitude and the skills to do this.”

“I dig Steve Harvey: he's the suit man. I be checking him out.”

“If we were poor, we didn't know it 'cause I guess you don't miss what you never had. So, you know, we made do with whatever. We used to make our own toys, and we used to play with spinning tops and marbles. A pocket full of marbles, and you were rich - you didn't worry about no money.”

“My favorite prayer is Footprints in the Sand. You know that prayer? I know the times that he carried me, you know? I kind of wore him out.”

“When you were a kid, a day was a long time and a year was a long time.”

“I just sing. You have to use it.”

“Without faith, I don't think I'd be here.”

“It's up to God to do the judging. You haven't walked in my boots, so how are you going to judge me?”

“I remember going up and doing 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' with Paul Simon, Santana playing up there with us.”

“I don't want to be on the road all my life.”

“A lot of my solo albums were produced by different people who had their idea of what songs I should do, and they had me doing a lot of ballads.”

“I really like listening to music in my car.”

“When I'm singing, it's a mixture of my innocence in the projects, my mom and dad. It's all the good and the bad, the laughs and the frowns that I went through and seen other people go through. Then you be trying to write it. Whatever's coming out, you try and make it all cool.”

“I worked with the Neville Brothers for 40-some years on the highway, and up and down since I can remember - funk from New Orleans.”

“It's one of the greatest festivals in the world. New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest is the best all-around... It's an honor to be closing it.”