Don Cornelius

“Nobody really invents anything that hasn't been done before.”

“When you come up with a good idea, you don't have to do a whole lot. The idea does it for you.”

“I had difficulty working for other people.”

“Love, peace and soul.”

“All I really wanted was to be a full-time disc jockey.”

“Black music is too big and too powerful not to have its own awards show.”

“I always felt a love for music, but I never got my nerve up enough to try a musical instrument in school.”

“People who dance well, dress well, are well groomed and know how to behave seem to know others who dance, dress and behave well.”

“'Soul Train' was developed as a radio show on television. It was the radio show that I always wanted and never had.”

“There were three great child singing stars: Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Jackie Washington.”

“Soul music as we've always known it hasn't changed. There are different players now with different attitudes, but there is nothing new being done musically.”

“Almost all of what I learned about mounting and hosting a dance show I learned from Dick Clark.”

“It's always a pleasure to find something that matters.”

“My father worked real hard. I admired him. My father taught me you needed to work with your brain and not your back. I've made that a passion.”

“I felt that it was my mission to see to it that black talent had an opportunity to get national television exposure.”

“The 'Soul Train' legacy and brand are of the utmost importance to me and to 'Soul Train's' millions of fans. After years of offers, I feel the time is now finally right to pass the torch.”

“Blacks on prime-time TV are only portrayed as comedians - and often in no better a light than 'Amos & Andy.'”

“Who's more important than Diana Ross?”

“There was no match for Barry White. His music is just going to live forever. It's not limited to disco or soul or hip-hop or anything.”

“I am just convinced that people want to see people on TV who are more like themselves.”