Queen Latifah Quotes

When you have a family as big as mine, there are many things that affect my family members, in many different ways. It could be high blood pressure, it could be cholesterol, it could be obesity, it could be sleep deprivation or sleep apnea. An illness is an illness, especially if it affects younger kids. Illnesses affect your family and they impact you because you want to do the best you can to help your family member become more healthy, just as my family members want me to be healthy.

I never really took any acting classes. I'm just a natural ham, I guess.

I'm probably proudest of being able to lift a lot of us out of the 'hood. That's the biggest thing, that I've been able to employ a lot of people and give them opportunities.

To me, I always felt like I was carrying a torch for women of any size to be themselves - it doesn't matter whether you're a size 2 or a 22, just be who you are.

It's not always easy to do the right thing. But, doing the right thing makes you strong, it builds character.

I made decisions that I regret, and I took them as learning experiences... I'm human, not perfect, like anybody else.

When you're rapping, you do have to perform to a certain degree, but not every rapper is necessarily a gifted actor.

I don't have to take a trip around the world or be on a yacht in the Mediterranean to have happiness. I can find it in the little things, like looking out into my backyard and seeing deer in the fields.

Sometimes you do have to bank on yourself. You do have to believe in your ideas enough to really get out there and fight for it despite what people think of some young kids from the hood.

I don't have to really be in the 60s. Every time I hail a cab in New York, and they pass me by and pick up the white person, then I get a dose of it. Or when they don't want to take you to Harlem. I grew up with that.

I'd say, if you want to be an artist, start with your art; start with making great music and it will, hopefully, eventually cut through all of the nonsense that is out there.

I definitely think we need to lean more on God. And I do think we need to praise, because we need to give it outward. You know, whenever you think you're in tough circumstances, there's always somebody who's in a worse position than you.

When there's something that impacts a family member or friend, that is difficult for them, you want to do what you can to help. Sometimes you can't do anything and it makes you feel like you're helpless, so those emotions cross a big barometer, but they're a big, broad stroke when it comes to someone who you care about. If you have compassion in your heart, you just care.

There are two things I wear. One is a Curvation undergarment over my whole body, and then maybe I'll also put on some Spanx. They're so great. They have a way of smoothing everything out, and then you can just put on whatever you want. It accents you and makes you feel pretty.

I didn't know I had it in me. There's more to all of us than we realize. Life is so much bigger, grander, higher, and wider than we allow ourselves to think. We're capable of so much more than we allow ourselves to believe.

I tend to share whatever I know in general. I've never been a person to horde information for the sake of my own skin, you know what I mean? Not share so somebody doesn't take your job, I've never had that kind of insecurity. I also had a management company, too, so we were always one of those companies that shared information with our artists. Whatever they wanted to know, as much as they wanted to know, they could know.

I'm not allowed to get a big head, I've still got to do the simple things in life.

I believe that the kids, young people should have an opportunity to have Oscar nominated actors in their movies too.

I have always felt strongly about empowering women. I'm living proof that, with confidence and by believing in yourself, you can accomplish any goal.

[Hiking] is not that crazy, but when you look back and you see that mountain you just climbed, you say, "I can't believe I did that."

I had to grow to love my body. I did not have a good self-image at first. Finally it occurred to me, I'm either going to love me or hate me. And I chose to love myself. Then everything kind of sprung from there. Things that I thought weren't attractive became sexy. Confidence makes you sexy.

If my brother and I wanted money in our pockets, we had to get jobs - my first was at 15, at Burger King.

Jumping off that cliff in Jamaica.It was years ago. It was at this place called Rick's Cafe. Actually, it was two cliffs. They were pretty high, probably a good 40- 50-foot jump into the ocean. That was crazy.

So often, you don't get that opportunity. You only go over everything once and, the next thing you know, you're on set.

I was taught from a young age that many people would treat me as a second-class citizen because I was African-American and because I was female.

I'm proud of everything I do, but I think I'm the most happy about becoming a rapper. It was my entrance into everything. That helped me get into acting.

I actually enjoy that I never really needed to be hanging out with every celebrity in Hollywood; I just go home and hang out with my cousins, my best friends. I'm not treated like royalty; they love me to death, but they don't treat me like royalty. So it's easy for me; they'll tell me the truth, whether it hurts or not. And I need that; I've always been given that.

There are times you can't really see or even feel how sweet life can be. Hopefully its mountains will be higher than its valleys are deep. I know things that are broken can be fixed. Take the punch if you have to, hit the canvas and then get up again. Life is worth it.

Living for today will bring about dying for today. You can’t just think, ‘I’m going to die anyway,’ because that’s what’s stopping us from moving forward.

I think as far as the music industry is concerned, it's kind of been the wild, wild West in a way with the Internet, which is not necessarily a bad thing to me.

There are different flavours of sexiness.

I learned you really do have to make sure you enjoy life.

How many crossroads are you allowed to have in life? I seem to have a lot of crossroads. I think maybe I crossed back across the same road too often.

I already enjoy cooking. I like different flavors and putting different things together and really like taking normal recipes to a higher level.

A confident woman is a sexy woman, in my opinion. And I think guys find that to be the same way.

You can huff and puff. But blow me down? I doubt it kid, or you get your ass whupped.

I feel anger and I feel understanding. It's a difficult position to be in.

I know people who are twice as creative as I am, twice as smart, but they didn't do anything because they feared going into a room and opening their mouths. My parents told me to truly accomplish things in my life, there would be times I would have to stand alone. It may be scary, but that's what it requires.

There's no way I can represent for everyone. I can't represent for all women or all big women or all black women. It's important for people not to make celebrities their source of who they should be in life. I can't take on the pressure of being perfect. Nobody is.

People have often asked me, do I want to be the next Oprah - there is no such thing. Oprah is Oprah, and she's still being Oprah if anybody hasn't noticed... what I bring to TV is myself... I really think there's space in daytime TV for a whole bunch of fun, some amazing music, and some heart.

I want to see 10 female rappers getting regular rotation. It can't be all about a man's opinion.

I was baptized a Baptist, but I'm just Christian, as far as I'm concerned. I could go in any church, doesn't matter if it's Baptist, Protestant, Episcopal, or Catholic.

I often find it's just the confidence that makes you sexy, not what your body looks like. It's how you feel about yourself that makes you sexy.

Church was a requirement, there was no choice in the matter, so was vacation bible school. Gospel has been in me since I was a kid.

I came from a crew, and to me, all the guys I rapped with were better than me, so I was surprised when I was the breakout one. It was definitely a cool thing.

The more you push the budgets up, the more you make records cost $20, the more you make records last 4 and 5 minutes on the radio.

I try to only commit myself to things that I think I can accomplish and commit myself to 100 percent. I try not to bite off more than I can chew.

I need something bigger than myself. And the only thing that can be would be a child. Someone who would help me live even more selflessly.