Inspiration quotes

I need drama in my life to keep making music.

I got a greater purpose. God put something in my heart to get across, and that’s what I’m going to focus on, using my voice as an instrument and doing what needs to be done.

The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.

There is spontaneity to my work.

We have art in order not to die of the truth.

I always seem to get inspiration and renewed vitality by contact with this great novel land of yours which sticks up out of the Atlantic.

Let every dawn be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close.

The human race is governed by its imagination.

Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.

In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.

I want people to draw strength from me.

The writing process, the way I go about it is I do whatever the beat feels like, whatever the beat is telling me to do. Usually when the beat comes on, I think of a hook or the subject I want to rap about almost instantly. Within four, eight bars of it playing I’m just like, ‚Oh, OK. This is what I wanna do‘.

I read everything, but generally more fact than fiction – especially autobiographies and biographies. I’ve read ‚Long Walk to Freedom‘ by Nelson Mandela at least twice on holiday. Every time, I’m totally awed by his vision, strength and forgiveness. I feel honoured to have got to know him and his wonderful wife Graca over the years.

If a small-town boy like me who bagged groceries was able to make his dreams come true, you can too.

Yes, and I can sit down on a white piece of paper and work because I don’t believe too much into inspiration, only I’m waiting for inspiration, work and then inspiration may come. It’s a little too easy to say that.

Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision.

My songs are the door to every dream I’ve ever had and every success I’ve ever achieved.

My whole thing is to inspire, to better people, to better myself forever in this thing that we call rap, this thing that we call hip hop.

First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth.

All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.

The greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel.

Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.

If I inspire you, pay for it, period.

Masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice.

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.

Eating words has never given me indigestion.

To love one that is great, is almost to be great one’s self.

Being a hero is about the shortest-lived profession on earth.

While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.

Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.

When I am writing, I do not distinguish between the natural and supernatural. Everything seems real. That is my world, you could say.

Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.

We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.

For just when ideas fail, a word comes in to save the situation.

In 1995, I was diagnosed with cancer, and I had to practice what I preached. I had always said to ‚believe in God‘ and ‚don’t give up‘ to little kids who had been diagnosed with cancer. I then thought if I can’t call on that same God and same strength that I told people about, I would be a liar and a phony.

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.

Anyone can be a Superman, but nobody can be Jackie Chan.

The chief glory of every people arises from its authors.

I like George Carlin’s jokes. I like his humor. He’s one of my heroes, and I like what he did with talking about everyday things.

For me to talk with Obama and the conversation I had with him, I was letting him know that me and my fans have a special connection, and it’s love, and I believe that love is the answer.

Millions of people were inspired by the Apollo Program. I was five years old when I watched Apollo 11 unfold on television, and without any doubt it was a big contributor to my passions for science, engineering, and exploration.

Nothing is more fearful than imagination without taste.

We represent a hustler. I think we represent inspiration. I think we represent, you know, staying down. I think we represent building yourself up from the bootstraps.

I hope that people around the world will be as inspired as I am to step up and to speak out on behalf of girls around the world who struggle to go to school.

The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most.

We’re all dreamers.

Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.

My mother was and will always remain my greatest hero.

Since I was old enough to understand what a songwriter/producer is, I’ve had a curiosity about how Max Martin creates what he creates. I wanted to see that happen. I wanted to be there. I wanted to learn from him.

I’ve done many ads because that’s my new career. It’s an inspiring extension for my mind.

Diana Ross is a big inspiration to all of us. We all grew up watching everything about her – her mike placement, her grace, her style and her class.

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

I try to use my experience and the fact that I grew up in the ghetto – I tell people you don’t have to rob or steal to get out of the ghetto.

When I heard Little Richard, I mean, it just set my world on fire.

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.

The minute you got the Nobel Peace Prize, things that I said yesterday, with nobody paying too much attention, I say the same things after I got it – oh! It was quite crucial for people, and it helped our morale because apartheid did look invincible.