I always felt that if I was going to do a movie, I wanted it to be authentic.

If you are lucky enough to find something that you love, and you have a shot at being good at it, don’t stop, don’t put it down.

My audience went, ‚Wait, why is she singing jazz? What’s going on?‘ And then they went, ‚Oh, because she can. Because she loves it.‘ And jazz, a music invented by the African-American community, is the greatest art form, I believe, to have ever come out of this country.

My music will go on forever. Maybe it’s a fool say that, but when me know facts me can say facts. My music will go on forever.

I’m not really good at fun-to-know, human interest stuff. We’re not ‚celebrities‘, whose life itself is a performance. Good or bad or ugly, we are our words. They’re what people meet.

I’ve got a great sense of humor, and if I’m able to say or do something in a movie that people feel like they want to repeat, that’s hugely flattering.

Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals, for the most part governed by the impulse of passion.

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

I draw from the Absurd three consequences: my revolt, my liberty, my passion.

I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live.

I can get where some scientists would say comedians are crazy. What you have to understand: A lot of comedians are dealing with a dark passion. A lot of these are guys coming from a tumultuous life, including myself. Some people need outlets, a way to express yourself.

What I like to do is try to make a difference with the work I do.

This is not a showman’s job. I will not step out of character.

I’ve always felt that if I examine myself too much, I’ll find out what I know and don’t know, and I’ll burst the bubble. I’ve gotten so lucky relying on my animal instincts, I’d rather keep a little bit of the animal alive.

I meant what I said and I said what I meant.

A person who is truly authentic doesn’t need to play a role in life, we think, but can simply be him – or herself.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years.

My parents were the same in the pulpit as they were at home. I think that’s where a lot of preachers‘ kids get off base sometimes. Because they don’t see the same things at both places.

Hip-hop saved my life, man. It’s the only thing I’ve ever been even decent at. I don’t know how to do anything else.

Writing is my love. If you love something, you find a lot of time. I write for two hours a day, usually starting at midnight; at times, I start at 11.

Die to everything of yesterday so that your mind is always fresh, always young, innocent, full of vigor and passion.

One of my proudest moments is I didn’t sell my soul for the sake of popularity.

I didn’t have nothin‘ going for me… school, home… until I found something I loved, which was music, and that changed everything.

Stand-up comedy is mine: it’s my entity; it’s my brand; I own it. I do it when I want to do it.

Life is not living in the suburbs with a white picket fence. That’s not life. Somehow our American culture has made it out that that’s what life needs to be – and that if it’s not that, it’s all screwed up. It’s not.

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.

No man can succeed in a line of endeavor which he does not like.

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.

We’re just enthusiastic about what we do.

You never achieve success unless you like what you are doing.

There’s no real excuse for being successful enough as an actor to do what you want and then selling out. You do it pure. You don’t try to adapt it, make it commercial.

If I’m gonna tell a real story, I’m gonna start with my name.

They’re right to think that about me, because I’m the person most likely to sleep with my female fans, I genuinely love other women. And I think they know that.

It doesn’t matter where you come from, what you have or don’t have, what you lack, or what you have too much of. But all you need to have is faith in God, an undying passion for what you do and what you choose to do in this life, and a relentless drive and the will to do whatever it takes to be successful in whatever you put your mind to.

I love being in a courtroom.

I know I’m talented, but I wasn’t put here to sing. I was put here to be a wife and a mom and look after my family. I love what I do, but it’s not where it begins and ends.

I loved photography and everybody said it was a crazy thing to do because in those days nobody made it into the film business. I mean, unless you were related to somebody there was no way in.

I write from my soul. This is the reason that critics don’t hurt me, because it is me. If it was not me, if I was pretending to be someone else, then this could unbalance my world, but I know who I am.

The truth is: Belonging starts with self-acceptance. Your level of belonging, in fact, can never be greater than your level of self-acceptance, because believing that you’re enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic, vulnerable and imperfect.

I can’t pretend that I’m brave and that I can beat the whole world.

The writer must earn money in order to be able to live and to write, but he must by no means live and write for the purpose of making money.

The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.

Songs are my diaries; they always have been. You have to put your trust in everyone because putting down those real, personal details and thoughts that make a song authentic also opens you right up. I am constantly misunderstood; a lot of people just don’t get me.

The people you choose to have around you make all the difference. My family and close friends keep me grounded. You have to have a mind of your own and a strong head on your shoulders. Cricket is the most important thing to me, so the rest of it pales in comparison.

‚Harry Potter‘ gave me back self respect. Harry gave me a job to do that I loved more than anything else.

By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.

Creation is a sustained period of bliss, even though the subject can still be very sad. Because there’s the triumph of coming through and understanding that you have, and that you did it the way only you could do it. You didn’t do it the way somebody told you to do it.

I’m crazy and I don’t pretend to be anything else.

To witness two lovers is a spectacle for the gods.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.

I think carrying moral baggage is very dangerous for an artist. If you have a duty, it’s to be true and not cover up the cracks.

The first real thought that I had of something that I might do was to write for car magazines, because I always had a car thing.

It’s in my blood to be around people while I was training.

There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows.

I’m just wanting to make the proper breakfast and keep the house. That’s my passion. At the request of my kids, I’m taking cooking classes. As I go to sleep at night, I think, ‚Did I do a great job as a mom, or was that an average day?‘

I still love football, though, and I think cooking is like football. It’s not a job, it’s a passion. When you become good at it, it’s a dream job and financially you need never to worry. Ever.

I’ve always been – you know, my personality is motivating and encouraging. And so I’m just being who God made me to be.

An intellectual is a person who’s found one thing that’s more interesting than sex.

I’ve always wanted to make a career in the arts, and I think that my only hope at doing that is to make it more about the work.

Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee.