I grew up in Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, and my mom and pop had an extensive record collection, so Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder and all of those sounds and souls of Motown filled the house.

Don't tell me what was said about me. Tell me why they were so comfortable to say it to you.

Remind yourself. Nobody built like you, you design yourself.

Everybody look at you strange, say you changed Like you work that hard to stay the same.

You not feeling me, fine. It costs you nothing, pay me no mind.

A wise man told me don't argue with fools. Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who.

Don't ever go with the flow. Be the flow.

I seen the worst of the worst. I deserve every blessing I receive I'm from the dirt.

You can pay for school, but you can't buy class

Everybody can tell you how to do it but they never done it

Identity is a prison you can never escape, but the way to redeem your past is not to run from it, but to try to understand it, and use it as a foundation to grow.

Death is not good. It’s just a fact. We don't need to give it so much importance. So I don't want to read anything that talks about it.

Just like small acts of kindness can pave the way for a better world, small acts of corruption open the road for a corrupt world.

When you see beauty all around you, beauty will seek and find you, even in the most unexpected places.

I don't want to be considered 'the Latino rapper.

We must never violate principles. We must never initiate violence. And we should never harm the innocent. But at some point, unless governments back off, we have to stop being nice.

I was always the biggest nerd in school: I had very few friends; I was always picked on; I used to wear really big glasses. I was the epitome of a nerd.

There is no 'grand conspiracy' preventing your from accomplishing what you need to do.

In Tantric Zen there is no rule. There is only your immediate experience.

I didn't see it as someone who worked as hard as I did. But now that Saint Laurent is part of history, it makes me a part of history, so, yes, finally it's not such a bad thing to have been a muse.

The Goddess has a fourth face, which is secret, and you should pray to her, as I do — as I do, Igraine — that Morgause will never wear that face.