Deep down, I know I have this intuition or instinct that a lot of creative people have, that their demons are also what make them create.

There is no subject so old that something new cannot be said about it.

The influence of ‚Hidden Fortress‘ comes up a lot because it was printed in a book once. The truth is, the only thing I was inspired by was the fact that it’s told from the point of view of two peasants, who get mixed up with a samurai and princess and a lot of very high-level people.

Understand this law and you will then know, beyond room for the slightest doubt, that you are constantly punishing yourself for every wrong you commit and rewarding yourself for every act of constructive conduct in which you indulge.

It’s very hard to live with yourself if you don’t stick with your moral code.

Before you start a goal – let’s take care of our insecurities because they are going to surface when you put yourself in the crucible and you’re suffering.

You don’t have to be a renowned artist like Q-Tip to try your hand at poetry. You don’t need any special equipment – that’s the beauty of it.

I think a number of the leaders are, whether you like it or not, in the hip-hop generation. And when they understand enough, they’ll do wonders. I count on them.

Some men never feel small, but these are the few men who are.

I don’t really plan. I’m almost intuitive about things.

The more in harmony with yourself you are, the more joyful you are and the more faithful you are. Faith is not to disconnect you from reality – it connects you to reality.

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?

What comes out when life squeezes you? When someone hurts or offends you? If anger, pain and fear come out of you, it’s because that’s what’s inside.

Wherever you write is supposed to be a little bit of a refuge, a place where you can get away from the world. The more closed in you are, the more you’re forced back on your own imagination.

I didn’t want to play it boring and safe. I also didn’t want to innovate too much. Second albums, man, they’re even scarier than first ones.

Modern poets talk against business, poor things, but all of us write for money. Beginners are subjected to trial by market.

Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.

We like to think about how smart we are. But I think talent as a writer is hard-wired in, it’s all there, at least the basic elements of it. You can’t change it any more than you can choose whether to be right handed or left handed.

I’m tired of fighting. I’ve always known that I can’t be an action star all my life.

Telling us to obey instinct is like telling us to obey ‚people.‘ People say different things: so do instincts. Our instincts are at war… Each instinct, if you listen to it, will claim to be gratified at the expense of the rest.

I hear my friends and my mom tell me I’m special, but honestly, I still don’t get it.

To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge.

The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection.

Passions are the gales of life.

To me, the most important artists in my career are Arcangel and Balvin. Arcangel gave me the push, the respect in the streets.

At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.

The function of the artist is to invent, not to chronicle.

If I wish to compose or write or pray or preach well, I must be angry. Then all the blood in my veins is stirred, and my understanding is sharpened.

Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public.

Stories surge up out of nowhere, and if they feel compelling, you follow them. You let them unfold inside you and see where they are going to lead.

Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature.

I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity.

People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy… and I keep it in a jar on my desk.

Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves.

Knowledge is a polite word for dead but not buried imagination.

All good art is an indiscretion.

In this business you have to develop a thick skin, but I’m always going to feel everything. It’s my nature.

If a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it.

I don’t give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.

That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.

It doesn’t take much to make me angry.

I want people to follow their dreams, yes… but I’m not interested in telling young black kids how to be rappers… I want to show them that there’s so many other paths you can take, besides a rapper or basketball player.

I think beating myself up sometimes and knowing I am not happy when I do it makes me work harder to do a good job.

Vanity can create a very cruel space for you if you don’t know how to manage it.

I really have no interest in myself.

It is a joy to be an artist, but it doesn’t mean very much unless that work is somehow useful in some way and contributes to others.

Wisdom begins in wonder.

I feel like in my music I can be a rebel. I can say things I wouldn’t say in real life.

In my later years, I have looked in the mirror each day and found a happy person staring back. Occasionally I wonder why I can be so happy. The answer is that every day of my life I’ve worked only for myself and for the joy that comes from writing and creating. The image in my mirror is not optimistic, but the result of optimal behavior.

I’m a writer, and I will write what I want to write.

In Hollywood the woods are full of people that learned to write but evidently can’t read. If they could read their stuff, they’d stop writing.

If every choice you make comes from an honest place, you’re solid, and nothing anybody can say about you can rock you or change your opinion.

I can say I’d honestly rather be happy than have 30 to 40 songs that I’ve written about these thrilling, exciting, horrible, unhappy times.

I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm; then they might have an unlimited power for doing good.

Writing a song is so personal. You have to have trust in someone you’re working with; otherwise, you’re not gonna come out with something that’s really you.

You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.

I’m 31 now. I think I’m beginning to understand what life is, what romance is, and what a relationship means.

I write screenplays in the middle of the night.

We’re all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten you on the mistakes we may or may not have made.

If I get stuck, I look at a book that tells me how someone else did it. I turn the pages, and then I say, ‚Oh, I forgot that bit,‘ then close the book and carry on. Finally, after you’ve figured out how to do it, you read how they did it and find out how dumb your solution is and how much more clever and efficient theirs is!