Never blame a man for misfortune, do it yourself.

Don't be flirting with your gift, you better marry it

It's hard as a person to just put your life out there for the world to judge. That's what music is and what you're supposed to do with the art, live and release it to the world.

I love myself, I no longer need Cupid...

I was the darkest skinned person in my family. I remember how I used to feel - like I wasn't pretty enough, or I wasn't good enough.

Some days you're depressed, some days you're happy, some days you're broken hearted. People need music for therapy, to heal them or speak for them when they can't describe how they're feeling.

Being simple and complicated at the same is what makes Jay-Z so great.

I want to be great at what I do. I don't want to be just an average rapper.

When you tell a story and connect with somebody through an emotion that's why they like songs.

When I was young what made me really want to be a rapper was when I saw MC Lyte.

As learnèd commentators viewIn Homer more than Homer knew.

Giving is an open gate to a great life.

Excellence is the rocket that carries you to the stratosphere of success.

A person could be immensely happy reading only him or the writers he loved. But that would be too easy.

Courage in the final analysis is nothing but an affirmative answer to the shocks of existence.

Rain is used as white noise when God is disgusted by too much prayer, when the sky is stuffed to bursting with the noise of what people need.

There's an old adage," he said, "translated from the ancient Coptic, that contains all the wisdom of the ages -- "Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die.

I hope I will get to novelize my present circumstances at some point. I have some great stories to tell.

I may not be a human, but I am a man.

Three things that always bring a smile to my face: making guacamole for my friends, getting pedicures with my mom, exploring an airport I've never been in.

An honest man, sir, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not.