The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God – if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That’s what I think.

We’ve been programmed, from the time that we were very, very little, about what we can’t do – about what is impossible.

The same thing I did in 2013 is what I’m trying to do in 2014, which is continue to improve, continue to shock people. You know, I have several projects coming up between 2014 and 2015, and hopefully by 2015, I’ll have another hour of stand-up material where I’ll be able to go on the road and tour again.

My mother told me, ‚Son, nobody else but God knows.‘ And that’s what I’m about – reaching out to the people, crying with them, giving them hope. Visiting the hospital, visiting the kids with cancer, visiting the adults, and stuff like that. That’s what I do.

If a person doesn’t change, there’s something really wrong with him.

As I’ve said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hopes for Iraqis‘ future.

When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights.

I want to be just a pure spiritual leader.

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.

Some people are jerks, and some people aren’t.

People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.

I don’t care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.

America is known as a country that welcomes people to its shores. All kinds of people. The image of the Statue of Liberty with Emma Lazarus‘ famous poem. She lifts her lamp and welcomes people to the golden shore, where they will not experience prejudice because of the color of their skin, the religious faith that they follow.

Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.

I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart.

Not only do I think being nice and kind is easy but being kind, in my opinion, is important.

I’m not a person who defends myself very often. I kind of let my actions speak for me.

Maleficent has suffered abuse in the past, and there’s a reason why she is now as furious as she is. And I think that children who have been outcast and abused in any way will relate to her. There’s a beautiful side to her; she’s not just a dark person. She has all these facets. And that is interesting.

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.

We are one, after all, you and I, together we suffer, together exist and forever will recreate each other.

The single most powerful thing I can be is to be myself.

Wanting to feel good is synonymous with wanting to feel God.

You can’t go backward in life.

I try to not focus on what people expect from me.

T stands for being nice. T stands for manners. T stands for being polite.

Once you feel loved by the universe, you’re already accepted, and you’re not really concerned about offending people.

DACA recipients risk a lot to come out of the shadows & sign up, but many will tell you the risk is worth being able to live and work in the only country they’ve ever known as home. DACA recipients serve in our military, work in Fortune 100 companies, and conduct important medical research.

No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart, just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

When something an affliction happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

Don’t talk about what you have done or what you are going to do.

I made my first white women friends in college; they loved me and were loyal to our friendship, but I understood, as they did, that they were white women and that whiteness mattered.

It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to desist from harming them.

An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight… the truly wise person is colorblind.

Playing in MLS was a great experience. It has boosted my confidence and I feel I have matured as a player.

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.

Forty is when you actually begin even deserving to be on stage telling people what you think.

Only the insecure strive for security.

When you hear people making hateful comments, stand up to them. Point out what a waste it is to hate, and you could open their eyes.

The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerance. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors, and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.

Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.

When I was two, a dragonfly flew near me. A man knocked it to the ground and trod on it. I remember crying because I’d caused the dragonfly to be killed.

He who has faith has… an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well – even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly.

There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.

Something I’ve realized lately, to my shock, is that I am an optimist, in that I think humans are almost infinitely capable of self-change and self-modification, and that we really can build the future that we want if we’re smart about it.

I have striven not to laugh at human actions, not to weep at them, nor to hate them, but to understand them.

I don’t want to be too critical of what other people do, but when people go back to do the same thing that they did, I’m completely confused. I’m like, ‚Didn’t you make that movie already?‘ I’ve been very fortunate, and I’m well taken care of, so the least I can do is try to go forward.

Satan wants us to constantly focus on everything that is wrong with us and look at how far we still have to go. But God desires for us to rejoice in how far we have already come.

I have a heart of gold, but I’m really a marshmallow in my heart.

I know that a large part of my fan base is gay. They’ve shown me love from the start. I mean in this industry, everyone from my glam people to my dancers are gay. You can’t be homophobic in this line of work – I’m a pop star!

The sun doesn’t always shine in West Virginia, but the people do.

When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music. Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?

Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door.

My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.

I am, as a character, at times, a little overbearing. I recognize that.

In a gentle way, you can shake the world.

Still and all, why bother? Here’s my answer. Many people need desperately to receive this message: I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.

I always say this about my music, and music in general: Music is like a time capsule. Each album reflects what I’m going through or what’s going on in my life at that moment.

I don’t know if I particularly want to be remembered for anything. I personally do not think I’m a great gift to the world. I’ve been very fortunate.