Gordy Quotes & Sayings

I'm not a homosexual and I don't smoke pot, so what would I say? — Lillian Gordy Carter

We may not return the affection of those who like us, but we always respect their good judgment. — Lillian Gordy Carter

She didn't want to be like these men. Didn't want to be a murderer. "Please," she said through clenched teeth. "You never saw me."

Gordy leaned down, his face hovering right in front of the gun's barrel. Unconcerned, possibly even excited by the weapon pointed in his direction. "Pull it. I dare you." When Ailish still couldn't bring herself to tighten her finger, he laughed. "You always were a tease. — Tessa Bailey

Every day I watched how a bare metal frame, rolling down the line would come off the other end, a spanking brand new car. What a great idea! Maybe, I could do the same thing with my music. Create a place where a kid off the street could walk in one door, an unknown, go through a process, and come out another door, a star. — Berry Gordy

I worshipped Berry Gordy for the creative dreams he had made come true. — Martha Reeves

Berry Gordy turned his house into a studio and discovered over 30 acts in the city. And we're famous all over the world. — Martha Reeves

I never imagined I'd meet Berry Gordy who told me when he first heard me sing, "You know, your singing's okay, but I like your harmonica playing better." — Stevie Wonder

The whole purpose of writing a book is to be understood - if other people write about you, they try to guess why you did things, or they hear things from other people. — Berry Gordy

I'm a songwriter, that's what I love. — Berry Gordy

I didn't want to be a big record mogul and all that stuff. I just wanted to write songs and make people laugh. — Berry Gordy

I made the decision to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and looking back that was a really stupid decision — Gordy Ainsleigh

It's like losing a son because I loved Michael and Michael loved me. But you know, as when people grow up and they make their own decisions and they move forward, there's a distance, and I think that Michael in some cases might have gone too far with some of the things he was doing. — Berry Gordy

Don't judge yourself by others' standards ... have your own. And don't get caught up into the trap of changing yourself to fit the world. The world has to change to fit you. And if you stick to your principles, values and morals long enough, it will. — Berry Gordy

Berry Gordy believed in owning the artist for life and controlling everything: the money, the station wagons, everything. — Wilson Pickett

His [Michael Jackson] behavior was weird, but when you get an artist and a genius, many of the geniuses throughout our whole history were weird. And they did weird things because none of us could understand what was on their mind and why they did what they did. — Berry Gordy

I was in charge, but I made logic the boss. — Berry Gordy Jr.

I know folks all have a tizzy about it, but I like a little bourbon of an evening. It helps me sleep. I don't much care what they say about it. — Lillian Gordy Carter

I love all my children, but some of them I don't like. — Lillian Gordy Carter

Today's business climate is not for me. — Berry Gordy

Middle age is when a guy keeps turning off lights for economical rather than romantic reasons. — Lillian Gordy Carter

All artists have runners, people that tell them what to do, business managers, lawyers, these - if they get the right ones, they're lucky, and if they get the wrong ones, they're unlucky. — Berry Gordy

Jimmy says he'll never tell a lie. Well, I lie all the time. I have to - to balance the family ticket. — Lillian Gordy Carter

There are certain things that we take for granted that simply would not have existed without the great migration. Motown, for example, would not have existed - it simply would not, because Berry Gordy, the founder of it, his parents had migrated from Georgia to Detroit where he founded Motown, and where did he get his talent? — Isabel Wilkerson

Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, 'Lillian, you should have remained a virgin.' — Lillian Gordy Carter

Gordy," I said. "I need to talk to you."
"I don't have time," he said. "Mr. Orcutt and I have to debug some PCs. Don't you hate PCs? They are sickly and fragile and vulnerable to viruses. PCs are like French people living during the bubonic plague."
Wow, and people thought I was a freak.
"I much prefer Macs, don't you?" he asked. "They're so poetic. — Sherman Alexie

If I settle a case out of court, it's because I love the person. — Berry Gordy

There aren't enough people who care about the future. They are too busy worrying about today and what they can grab now — Berry Gordy

Marriage ain't easy but nothing that's worth much ever is. — Lillian Gordy Carter

Your lovin' gives me a thrill
But your lovin' don't pay my bills
I need money - That's what I want. — Berry Gordy

When you're afraid of failure you're more likely to do it. — Gordy Ainsleigh

Sure I'm for helping the elderly. I'm going to be old myself someday. — Lillian Gordy Carter

But once I saw them [Jackson 5 during audition], I rushed out with my video camera to start taping them because I knew that they were something so special, mainly because of the lead singer, nine-year-old Michael Jackson. And it was just so obvious to me that he was a star. — Berry Gordy

I have this ability to find this hidden talent in people that sometimes even they didn't know they had. — Berry Gordy

had grown tonight, since Gordy and Crystal both brought friends. Joan was ecstatic at the popularity their little — Virginia Smith

If I had one wish for my children, it would be that each of them would reach for goals that have meaning for them as individuals. — Lillian Gordy Carter

Money had never been the main thing for me. It's the legacy that was important. — Berry Gordy

Motown was about music for all people - white and black, blue and green, cops and the robbers. I was reluctant to have our music alienate anyone. — Berry Gordy

Popular disregard, even disdain, for demonstrable truth is the most dangerous thing that can happen to a democracy. — Gordy Slack

Every time I think that I am getting old, and gradually going to the grave, something else happens. — Lillian Gordy Carter

Listen," he said one afternoon in the library. "You have to read a book three times before you know it. The first time you read it for the story. The plot. The movement from scene to scene that gives the book its momentum, its rhythm. It's like riding a raft down a river. You're just paying attention to the currents. Do you understand that?"
"Not at all," I said.
"Yes, you do," he said.
"Okay, I do," I said. I really didn't, but Gordy believed in me. He wouldn't let me give up.
The second time you read a book, you read it for its history, its knowledge of history. — Sherman Alexie

I've discovered that Motown and Broadway have a lot in common - a family of wonderfully talented, passionate, hardworking young people, fiercely competitive but also full of love and appreciation for the work, for each other and for the people in the audience. — Berry Gordy

Michael Jackson was not an artist who comes along once in a decade, a generation, or a lifetime. He was an artist who comes along only once, period ... He raised the bar and then BROKE the bar! — Berry Gordy

Whenever I came up against presidents of other companies, I was always smarter, because I was from the streets. — Berry Gordy