But I knew if I ran I'd never be able to sing, so I had to take my punishment.

I think things happened the way they did for a reason.

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

I was very surprised when I heard that I had been chosen to receive the James Cardinal Gibbons Award.

I really like listening to music in my car.

It's a 360-degree sound experience. Like you're in the middle of the band. A lot of people have the technology to play the format, so why not put it out there. It sounds great.

Every morning I wake up and thank God.

If you had told me I'd be making 62 tomorrow, I'd say you were lying.

We lived together as kids, and now we're taking care of each other as men.

I always loved Sam Cooke, because he seemed very versatile. He sang gospel, soul, blues, pop music.

I just sing. You have to use it.

Me and my partners had been stealing cars for a while.

I sing around the house, in the shower.

The extras are a nice bonus feature, but the main incentive is the musical experience.

I was raised Catholic, but my father's people were Methodist, so we went to both churches.

I feel it was just a few years ago I was running around in short pants.

So I went in front of the judge, and I had my St. Jude prayer book in my pocket and my St. Jude medal. And I'm standing there and that judge said I was found guilty, so he sentenced me to what the law prescribed: one to 14 years.

So now I have a collection of poetry by Aaron Neville and I give it to people I want to share it with. I'd like to publish it someday.

But I knew if I ran I'd never be able to sing, so I had to take my punishment.

When I record something, I'll take a drive and just listen.

Growing up my mother played Sarah Vaughan and Nat Cole in the house regularly.

I owe it all to Jesus.

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

Until I went to rehab, I didn't understand what it did.

My friends and I were wild and we liked to joy-ride.

'Yellow Moon' was a poem. My wife at the time, Joel - she's dead now - it was our 25th anniversary. She had the chance to go on a cruise with her sister. And I'm home with the kids and looking up, and I saw the big moon, and I just started writing.

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.

Age and numbers are a concept made up by man.

Ain't no place like New Orleans. It's one of kind.

Be honest, be nice, be a flower not a weed.

Don Was is a friend of mine; we've done projects together over the years.

Doo-wop is the true music to me, man. Doo-wop was what nurtured me and grew me into who I am, and I guess even when I was in school, the teacher probably thought I had ADD or something every day, because I'd be beating on the desks, singing like the Flamingos or the Spaniels or Clyde McPhatter or somebody.

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.

God is waiting for us, to forgive us all, and what is broken, he'll fix.

I always feel I'm blessed, you know. I thank God for letting me use his voice. That's how I see it.

I balance with prayer and music. I sing every day.

I buried Joel on our 48th anniversary. I had been with her since I was 16.

I didn't just get to 75 years by tiptoeing. I had to work hard sometimes.

I eat a lot of fish to stay healthy.

I even done a doo-wop version of the Mickey Mouse march.

I grew up singing Ray Charles and Jimmy Reed.

I just sing what I feel in my heart. I ain't trying to prove nothing, and I don't think I ever did.

I know that God is good, and he saved me from hell and damnation.

I know the fact that I was born means I have to die, so my only aim is to reach out and help someone along the way.

I might see something on TV and get inspired to write about it. I can't sit down and plan to write. It has to come to me in my head like someone telling me the words.

I never really got paid for 'Tell It Like Is,' but I look back at it and say God knew what he was doing; he probably figured that if I had got money back in them days, I wouldn't be here now. That's okay. I'm here. And I'm still singing the song.

I started listening to gospel when I was a little boy and my grandmother used to rock me on her lap.

I think the Creator renews me.

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.