I know who I am. I am not perfect. I'm not the most beautiful woman in the world. But I'm one of them.
Mary J. Blige
You can look at my palm and see the storm coming. Read the book of my life and see I've overcome it.
There's so many things that life is, and no matter how many breakthroughs, trials will exist and we're going to get through it. Just be strong.
I don't know. Only God knows where the story ends for me, but I know where the story begins. It's up to us to choose, whether we win or lose and I choose to win.
You can hate me. You can go out there and say anything you want about me, But you will love me later because I told you the truth.
Believe in yourself when nobody else does.
Life is full of trials and tribulations. It's dramatic when you don't treat people right when you're in the tribulations, but I know now how to get out of it. You have to make a decision to say 'No more', and then you know what to do when the trials happen.
You either learn from your experiences or go back and do the same thing, and I learned from my experiences.
So as long as I'm a human being and I'm not perfect, I'm able to say I'm having some growing pains. Because in order to sustain where you are once you made such a breakthrough that everyone is looking at you, now everyone is like, 'Ooh, is she gonna make a mistake?' Yes, I'm going to make a mistake. Yes, I'm still gonna do things.
I used to think I was ugly. I thought I looked like a camel. A person who doesn't love themselves, they will see anything that pops up on their face. I've seen squirrels, I've seen a bird, and I've seen all kinds of animals on my face. But that is the result of self-hate. I've learned to say: 'You know what? I am a beautiful black woman'.
Thank you so much for supporting me from the day I stepped foot into the music industry. It really means something to me to have Maya Angelou speak on my behalf. It also means a lot to have Oprah on my speed dial!
I wish I had known that education is the key. That knowledge is power. Now I pick up books and watch educational shows with my husband. I'm seeing how knowledge can elevate you.
I like French fries; I like mashed. I love potatoes.
I can have as many bad days as anyone. But I choose to say, 'I'm just fine.'
My main exercise is cardio. The treadmill is fine, but running outdoors gives me the best results. I try to log 6 to 8 miles a week. I could be in the worst mood, but when I do my cardio, I feel much, much better.
One day I realized that I wasn't getting anywhere by blaming other people for my circumstances. I finally understood: Even if you feel someone has wronged you or owes you something, no one is going to give you anything for free.
Nowadays, with the state of the music business, for any artist, whether you're up-and-coming or you've been in it for awhile, you have to explore different revenues and different ways of expressing yourself.
When I was a child I didn't care about getting an education, and I didn't finish high school.
I believe there should be no more drama, but it's everywhere you go. It's just about how you get out. You've gotta bob and weave because it's everywhere. How do I keep the drama low? It's about using your head.
Without your health, everything else means nothing.
I've been a tomboy my whole life. But then you get older, you get married, you soften up.
You know a lot, but you don't know everything.
You demand respect and you'll get it. First of all, you give respect.
I do consider myself part of black history.
In the inner city, there's a mentality that the government owes you something. My breakthrough came when I stopped feeling sorry for myself and took responsibility for every part of my life. No more pity parties. I've gotta love me more than anybody else loves me.
It hurts when you have to smile and you don't want to smile, but the best thing to do is to smile.
My God is a God who wants me to have things. He wants me to bling. He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block.
When you come from so many damaged places you don't ever want to spiral back there, so you gotta continue to check yourself.
Music makes us want to live. You don't know how many times people have told me that they'd been down and depressed and just wanted to die. But then a special song caught their ear and that helped give them renewed strength. That's the power music has.
When you know what pain is, and when you have to make a choice, you learn that it is a decision. People think it's a fairytale thing, love and happiness, but you have to work hard. And then - you feel it deeply.
There's not enough time to be disrespecting... Life is too short.
I believe this generation should know their history and they should know that the struggle's not over yet.
I've done well, I've been disappointed, and I think it all goes back to you. Of course the labels are going to be the labels. It's the music business. You are a business. That's what they do. So you've got to protect yourself.
It's OK showing yourself some love.
Sometimes I frown and I don't realise it.
The music business is not a good place for people who don't know things.
I barely have time for my own children. To adopt more children and not have time for them, that would be poor parenting on my part.
I just want fans to walk away knowing that no matter what's going on, no matter how happy you are, no matter how sad you are, we did it. We're strong in this. We've come a long way, and life is not just one thing.
I can see the music. I know what it looks like. I know what color it is. The words come easy, the tears come easy, and the joy comes easy. The music tells you what to do.
I never do any album to beat it. I do it to extend it.
I'm a child of God. God is my mommy, my daddy. That's the only thing that'll keep my head up. If I don't remember who I am in him, I'm done.
If we didn't have understanding of our journey, we wouldn't be able to go on. We'd be stuck, like, 'Why me?'
It was only for two years, and I jumped from family to family. It's very scary.
I just love food, period.
As long as I live, I know I'll have feelings. And that's what I'm passionate about.
If you're here right now in your life, your journey continues and you've lived to tell the story.
I've been praying to God to show me how to forgive myself. Because... maybe... that's the thing I've been searching for.
I had to learn how to trust my gut. Trust what I know to be right... not right, but not waver on who I am. Know who I am, know what I want, and know it. Not waver on it and be secure in that. And I still struggle with it. But I really... I can't be moved. You can't move me, and that all comes with loving myself, and I'm like my best buddy.
I don't think I'll do foster care or adopt, to be quite honest.
As a kid, I was in love with Michael Jackson, and I just knew I was going to marry him someday.
