Who’s my hero? That’s a great question… Well, I think my dad is my hero, because he’s someone I look up to every day.

I sang a song at my sister’s wedding. My mother forced me into that, too. But that one felt all right.

Where thou art, that is home.

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.

In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing.

I remember when my mother, Shyamala Harris, bought our first home. I was thirteen. She was so proud, and my sister and I were so excited. Millions of Americans know that feeling of walking through the front door of their own home for the first time – the feeling of reaching for opportunity and finding it.

And I saw the sax line-up that he had behind him and I thought, I’m going to learn the saxophone. When I grow up, I’m going to play in his band. So I sort of persuaded my dad to get me a kind of a plastic saxophone on the hire purchase plan.

You are never too young to learn, never too old to change.

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

My mother was a dominant force in our family. And I always saw her as the leader. And that was great for me as a young woman, because I never saw that women had to be dominated by men.

Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new at all.

Snoop ain’t never cosigned me, but I know everybody is like, ‚That’s the next Snoop.‘ Nah, I’m Nipsey, and I got to work to define myself.

I never had to choose a subject – my subject rather chose me.

There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of a high, simple and useful life.

Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.

Educationists should build the capacities of the spirit of inquiry, creativity, entrepreneurial and moral leadership among students and become their role model.

People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.

My dream is to be World Lightweight Champion in the UFC. Have more money than I know what to do with. And have a great life for my kids, grandkids, and everyone in my family.

I mean, families are weird.

My kids are the funniest two human beings there are.

Bill Gates has always been a mentor and inspiration for me even before I knew him. Just growing up, I admired how Microsoft was mission-focused.

Anything you put your mind to and add your imagination into can make your life a lot better and a lot more fun.

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

I’m blessed to have such a tight-knit family that we can talk about anything. Whether we talk frequently or not, since we’re on separate ends of the country, there are a lot of moving parts, and we always stay tight and find that center ground that keeps us together.

We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.

Apart from life, a strong constitution, and an abiding connection to the Thembu royal house, the only thing my father bestowed upon me at birth was a name, Rolihlahla.

I think that’s something that all mothers have to deal with, especially single mothers. We work, and we have to leave the kids behind. And I think that’s one of the reasons that we, not only as women but as families, we have to advocate for early childhood education for all of our children.

Art is not a thing; it is a way.

When I’m writing, I don’t feel neurotic. So it’s better for the family if I’m working.

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.

The death of my father is probably the biggest thing that I ever faced. Daddy and I were best friends.

You just don’t wake up one day and decide that you need to write songs.

Sometimes, when I see my granddaughters make small discoveries of their own, I wish I were a child.

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.

Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.

Writing is such a strange, utterly mysterious process. First, there was nothing; then, suddenly, there was something. I don’t know where thoughts are born. Where the hell does it come from? I don’t know. I really don’t know.

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

I didn’t read so much Japanese literature. Because my father was a teacher of Japanese literature, I just wanted to do something else.

I’ve had quite a lot of luck with dreams. I’ve often awoken in the night with a phrase or even a whole song in my head.

Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.

Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; art deserves that, for it and knowledge can raise man to the Divine.

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.

A lot of the stuff I do in terms of PR, I learned it from Muhammad Ali.

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.

I had to get rich so I could sing like I was poor again.

I do have a lot of gays in my family now, but some will never come out.

I think I have had so much blessing – I’ve had my brother, who was brilliant – I think my family came closest to making a genius when they made my brother – Bailey was just all of that. He loved me.

I tell everybody, I get so much because I give so much. I give freely, I give all my time, give all my money, give all of my soul. I try to motivate people. I try to inspire them.

As a songwriter, you respect and appreciate the writings of other people, and I often get asked, are there songs out there I wish I’d written? Yes. There’s many of them!

We will invest in our people, quality education, job opportunity, family, neighborhood, and yes, a thing we call America.

To hold a pen is to be at war.

The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, everybody sees them.

Basketball is booming, and it’s not just an Under Armour standpoint: it’s about the game itself. Kids going out and playing and being inspired by what we do on the court.

Basketball is my passion, I love it. But my family and friends mean everything to me. That’s what’s important. I need my phone so I can keep in contact with them at all times.

I had to make a choice at one point in my life, of missing films or missing my children. It was a very easy decision to make because I missed my children so very much.

Becoming an inspiration for kids is great. I want to inspire them to do whatever they want to.

When I’m 40 and nobody wants to see me in a sparkly dress anymore, I’ll be like: ‚Cool, I’ll just go in the studio and write songs for kids.‘

My kind of composing is more like the work of a gardener. The gardener takes his seeds and scatters them, knowing what he is planting but not quite what will grow where and when – and he won’t necessarily be able to reproduce it again afterwards either.

I think the foundation of everything in my life is wonder.

While the family is under attack throughout the world, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims, promotes, and protects the truth that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

I always use Michael as, first and foremost, a vocal inspiration, and ‚Off the Wall‘ was definitely the one that made me feel like I could sing.