Jill Scott
When I was 12, I wrote a list of things to do before I died. 'Own a Picasso' was one of those things.
I believe the relationship you have with your government is not so different to a love relationship.
I'm going to do as much as I can with this life, and then I'm going to make sure to take some time off and be simple and ride my bike and hang out with friends.
Nothing has gotten me out of Philadelphia. I moved 20 minutes away from Philly. That's about it.
For anyone who feels they are overwhelmed by their job, or maybe they take their job too seriously or are working too hard, I say go to a safari, particularly the Okavango Delta, and just be humbled.
It excites me when a person puts their whole self in a song or rhyme, or instrument. It fills me.
I have a few caftans just for lounging purposes. When I want to feel free, it's the closest thing to feeling naked without being naked.
Every community needs a rec center.
Everybody is supposed to be a part of their own community.
I've been around the world and I've had bras made in different places, and each time I'm experiencing the same troubles: the painful shoulders, the underwire cutting into my flesh.
I'd love to work with Missy Elliott. I'd love to work with Bonnie Raitt. I'd love, love, love to work with Barbra Streisand. I'm reaching, because why not? You don't know what's going to happen in this life.
I'm a method actor as well as a method singer.
Sometimes I feel like a Buddhist and I need to chant; sometimes a Baptist and I need to holler and shout; and sometimes I need to be a Catholic and need to purge my sins and confess. It just depends on where I am.
That's what I enjoy most about my music - that it heals in its own time and makes us look at ourselves in its own time.
Being on set is a hard thing. A lot of people are like, 'Oh, you get to make a movie, and it's all fun.' But the reality is, it's a lot of hours. It's a lot of reshoots; it's a lot of waiting. And you can become increasingly agitated by the amount of time that you are waiting. But that's real.
Singing and acting suit me. I made a vow to myself to do everything that I can do with this life that I have, and I have to find the time to do this. Sometimes I need to be an actress. Sometimes I don't need to be Jill. However, everyone is always looking for the Jill in everything.
For me, hair is an accoutrement. Hair is jewelry. It's an accessory.
You owe it to yourself to live beautifully. And I am.
A woman is more than the sum of her parts.
Back in my mid-20s I was told I'd never be able to have children as I wasn't having periods. Doctors tried to start up my monthly cycles, but when nothing worked, they actually offered me a hysterectomy. Without it, they said I might get ovarian cancer in the future. I chose not to have the operation, and am so glad I didn't.
I like a man who smells good. Puts on cologne; lotions his body. It keeps me wanting. I like feeling that way.
I could float in the pool for hours, just letting the water carry me.
I was reared in a Jehovah's Witness household. I was taught that every man should be judged by his deeds and not his color, and I firmly stand where my grandmother left me.
God is ever present. He's in every breath, in every step. He's here, always, always.
We all get angry and jealous sometimes, none of us is perfect, but we should not try to be different.
In order to grow emotionally and mentally, sometimes you have to grow physically as well. I'm just trying to grow, man, and always I just want to be the best and most confident me I can be.
Anytime you share life stories with other people, you know, you are acknowledging their humanity and kind of accessing some things about yourself, and other people start to expect things about themselves. It's kind of like a fellowship.
I was reading poetry to my girlfriends, and they were like, 'You're really good. You should go to some poetry readings or something.' And I eventually went and got a, you know, somewhat of a name for myself and a little bit of a following.
I've always been a firm believer that soul music never dies. The artists we still listen to today, years after their music was first heard are mostly soul artists; Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan. We still sing along to all of them with our hearts.
All I have to do is be me on stage. But acting, I have to be someone else, and walk how they would walk and blink how they would blink. I used to talk about it bad like, 'Aw man, that person made $10 million a movie?' But now I understand why they do. I get it now.
If you can't help me grow, there's no point with you being in my life.
I defy any woman who is pregnant and trying to concentrate really hard not to feel distracted.
I'm going to keep it real gully with you; the first two months, I wanted to give him back. I expected someone to come and save me because after you have the baby, nobody cares about you anymore. Nobody cares if you sleep, nobody cares if you eat. It's just you and this all-consuming thingy!
I always wanted to be a renaissance woman, do as many things as I possibly can and hopefully do them well or don't do them at all.
I think every individual has his or her own power, and it's a matter of working, taking time and defining what that power is.
Once I started looking for a record deal, I had a trainer. And the trainer told me that I would never sell a record if I didn't lose weight.
I'm a secret interior decorator. There's a mural on my dining room wall of the railroad tracks at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. I love having my hometown with me out here in California.
The highs, the lows, the peaks, the valleys, whatever, it's all going to go into the art, whether I'm singing or acting or whatever.
I just think it's silly to be stingy with compliments. If you see someone and they strike you as beautiful in any way, why not let them know?
I would say for every successful black woman in America or in the world, really, it's difficult to be the head of the household, financially. It is for the man in your life. It can be very hard for them. And there's a delicate balance. I'm not quite sure I know what that balance is just yet.
There are black marriages that are still going strong 40 years later. You hear so many myths that there aren't any people making it, but there are. As long as there are some, there's hope.
I just want to continue to grow, as an actor, and dig. Hopefully, one day, I'll lose myself in a role. My only worry about that is that I just want to be able to come back home. I don't want to get lost forever. That scares me.
Everybody's looking for love, and you want to love somebody and be loved in return.
I like to read Octavia E. Butler's 'Wild Seed' over and over again. And J. California Cooper's 'The Wake of the Wind.' That one makes me cry from joy. I'll mourn - I'll actually mourn - and then I'll cry from joy. She's wonderful.
I was backstage at the House of Blues in L.A where I was about to perform, and Stevie Wonder and Prince turned up at my dressing room together! Stevie started beat boxing and Prince started singing one of my songs, all of a sudden it was like I was in a cypher with these incredible artists.
You have to be humble when you're dealing with God.
I don't rhyme right now, but I may ten years from now.
I have been training since 8th grade, but it has to do with listening, more than practice.
Power doesn't have to be on such a big scale for powerful things to occur. Within your own home, you can be a powerful woman as a mother, influencing your children's lives.