Jill Scott
I didn't leave home until 27. I was an only child raised in Philadelphia by my mother and grandmother. My grandmother controlled the stove. She made a lot of potato meals - mashed potato, potato souffle, potato pancakes. When we didn't have electricity, we ate romantically by candlelight.
I love foods that start in my cheeks and then vibrate up.
Beauty is an understanding of what you have, and it's forgiving yourself of what you don't have, and appreciating all of it.Collection: Appreciate
Ain't nothing coming easily in this life. Sometimes you gotta work, you gotta grow and it gotta hurt.Collection: Hurt
Just because you have a nightmare doesn't mean you stop dreaming.Collection: Dream
Find new treasures in yourself. Love doesn't die. Love is unyielding. It's going to come back. The more you love and appreciate yourself, the more prepared you are when the real thing shows up.Collection: Real
Don't stop dreaming just because you had a nightmare.Collection: Dream
What I see is trying to make sure that everybody thinks you have more than what you actually have. What’s the point if you actually don’t have it? If you don’t have it, then you don’t have it. Have what you have. Enjoy that . . . The craft is everything. Don’t be afraid of not being the wealthiest person in the room. Be the smartest person in the room. Be the slickest person in the room. Be the most creative person in the room. Be the most entertaining person in the room. Just be in the room.Collection: Thinking
Just bc u loved and lost doesn't mean stop loving. If u have a nightmare, does it mean u stop dreaming?Collection: Dream
If a woman is happy, then your society is happy.Collection: Ifs
I don't necessarily think of myself as a feminist, but I'm a whole person. I'm not just breasts or ass or thighs - I'm a whole being! And it just seems like women aren't necessarily striving to be the whole of themselves.Collection: Thinking
I am making an effort to truly live. I don't mean to imply by that that I haven't been alive before but, with my son being here and such a powerful force in my life, he's given me a freedom to be more. I think that sometimes we can get stuck, and just the fact that he's here says so much to me about my own existence. I didn't think I'd be able to have children, and this level of blessing is something I can't even put my finger on.Collection: Powerful
My only job is to be happy. So for everybody that cares about me and is not trying to be all up in a celebrity's business, just know that I'm happy. My son is happy. We enjoy our lives.Collection: Jobs
I chose No. 1 Ladies' Detective, or I'll say it chose me, and it was an absolute blessing, for the experience of being in Africa for seven months and learning so many different things, from languages to foods to greetings. On so many levels, it was an incredible experience.Collection: Blessing
It's frustrating me - that booty is gonna sag at some point. And if you allow enough people to come inside your physical space, they leave traces.Collection: Space
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.Collection: Girlfriend
When I got my success I became decadent for a while. This was 2003 to 2008. I fell for tiramisu really hard. I've become more moderate since, because African-Americans are prone to diabetes.Collection: African American
One day, I just got up to read a poem and started singing. I looked around - the reaction was great. And I said, oh, boy. I like this.Collection: Boys
Saturday Night Live is a show that I think I could have a lot of fun on, just being different characters and maybe singing, too.Collection: Fun
I get scripts all the time, but I read this [Baggage Claim] thoroughly, and I loved it. It was light hearted, cute, sweet, and funny. I told my agent that I liked the script, but I did let my acceptance of the role slide a little, until I was watching television one day; scrolling through the stations, and there was this play. And I don't like plays made for the screen. But, this one, "Suddenly Single", caught my attention.Collection: Cute
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.Collection: Looks
Sometimes, for principle, your gonna have to kick some ass.Collection: Principles
People say that they like the characters that they believe that I am. But, I don't as much. I like the characters that I believe that I am not. Like my role on 'Law and Order.' That character unnerved people. And I loved every second of it. I want to continue growing as an actress. There are ways that I can reach quicker, or deeper, with acting.Collection: Believe
I love when I am around a veteran in [show] business. Because I can dig and ask questions, and find out the "who" and "what" of it all.Collection: Veteran
When you have a cast and crew of people who make it light hearted and crack jokes, and break treats, and understand that we are all in this together. That's a biggest plus that you can have.Collection: Light
Balancing is hard. I've lost roles that I really wanted because I had set up a tour. I cancelled tours to do roles before. But I have to find the time to make that up to my audience. I made a commitment to them.Collection: Commitment
I think I've changed more as a person and, as I change as a person, there is new added creativity. I've seen more... I've met more people, done more things with dogs, and walked on more beaches since the beginning. The more I see, the more I wanna do; and the more I do, the more I wanna see.Collection: Dog
I'm looking at the head of the household, and the house hasn't been run properly for a long time, ... Clinton was the first person ever to make a formal apology to black people for slavery, which was very warm and appreciated. But African-Americans haven't healed at all . The wound is still very open. And seeing the differences in how people live, it just puts salt in it- constantly . Seeing the way we're treated within these United States ... it burns you even more every day.Collection: Running
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.Collection: Singing
I want to continue growing as an actress. There are ways that I can reach quicker, or deeper, with acting.Collection: Acting
When I auditioned with Anthony Minghella (The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency), I loved the audition process, although I hated him for it. Because he had me audition six times for that role. Maybe three hours each. He wanted to see how quickly I could vary.Collection: Agency
Nikki Giovanni! I got a book of hers from the library, and there was this woman who could paint me on paper with words - my whole little experience. I thought it was wonderful.Collection: Book
I think what irks me is that I feel like women are really being compartmentalized physically, and it's been done so much that now we're doing it to ourselves. I don't like it.Collection: Thinking
I didn't leave home until 27. I was an only child raised in Philadelphia by my mother and grandmother. My grandmother controlled the stove. She made a lot of potato meals - mashed potato, potato souffle, potato pancakes. When we didn't have electricity we ate romantically, by candlelight.Collection: Mother
In Philadelphia, you are welcome, and that's The City of Brotherly Love. I think that makes us culturally thick and sound, so you can experience all kinds of cultural authenticity.Collection: Thinking
I panicked when my son, Jett, stopped eating baby food. He's only two but his food vocabulary is fantastic. He likes my baked tilapia and string beans with chopped garlic. But he really likes pizza. Sometimes every inanimate object to him is pizza.Collection: Baby
I think human beings will always still really enjoy using our imaginations, and Fringe allows you to do that. It's slightly scary and believable. There just might be an alternate universe. There just might be people on the other side that are like us, living a different life.Collection: Thinking
I had to wear a fat suit to play Mma Ramotswe in 'The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.' She's described as being like a small elephant, but she loves her body and size. When we were filming in Africa, it was 110F. It was torturous. I drank a lot of water and ate cucumbers all the time, and underneath the fat suit I shed pounds - I couldn't help it.Collection: Agency
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.Collection: Fun
When I was 12, I wrote a list of things to do before I died. Own a Picasso was one of those things.Collection: Lists
I am a woman, I make mistakes. I make them often. God has given me a talent and that`s it.Collection: Mistake
I don't want to force anything on anyone. I'm not trying to bust you over the head and make you buy this record or this song or whatever. I'm presenting it to you so you can take it in. You know, it's like trying to force a kid to eat broccoli. If I present it as trees that make your muscles grow, my son is like, 'I'm down with getting muscles.'Collection: Song