Russell Simmons Quotes

It is crucial that rappers have the chance to express the truth that is in their heart.

Give what you want to receive. If you want happiness, make others happy.

I would like to employ more people but I don't want to empower my charities at the cost of exploiting people or doing things that are not useful, so I'm working on that.

I know a lot of angry liberals right now. Hell, I know a lot of angry vegans.

I would never condone violence against women in any form, and for all of those I offended, I am sincerely sorry.

Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.

A clear and focused mind will last a lifetime. Getting your mind in shape is nothing less than the key to sustainable success in the world.

A person's strength is to know their weaknesses.

I want to fight poverty and ignorance and give opportunity to those people who are locked out.

I'm always surrounded by smart talented people. I had talented partners. Stan Latham for one. Talent scouts.

I think Hollywood is incredibly segregated. I've never seen any place like it. The gatekeepers who are the most progressive activists inspired to make the world better... they're better people, right? They're segregated. It's self segregated in some cases, but there's nobody Black in charge of anything in Hollywood.

I like to move towards a place where my greatest experience is promoting happiness for others. I know that that creates a cycle of the same great experience.

Get unstuck from whatever it is you perceive is holding you back from realizing your dreams.

I had too many businesses that are frivolous. I have enough. What interests me most is under-served communities. We need a new style of empowering these people, and new approaches.

I have 2 million Twitter followers. Some of those people are also yogis and activists and people who really go out and make a difference. I do as much as I can with my voice. It's effortless in some cases. I try to remind everybody that they have that kind of voice.

Antisemitism is just another form of racism. It's the same sickness, whether it's about Christians, about Islamophobia, which is horrible. It's all wrong. It's all the same.

People will always blame the poets for society's ills. But these are the true artists.

Suffering will always be there. You'll always have the poor. You have to own your own progress. It is true that because of the economy and the fear factor the president [Barack Obama] is able to execute a lot of promises that it would be difficult to deliver it not for the fear factor. It's funny. He's delivering on what he promised and we call it fear.

The world belongs to the people who say, 'I can'.

I mostly eat healthy. I just do. I'm not a vegan for health reasons - although obviously I'm 20 pounds lighter than when I started. I stayed 20 pounds lighter. I feel better. My friends say I look better. All that's true. But I'm a vegan for compassionate reasons.

You can't jump to vegan if you're not. Some people are absolute. Some people are able to be gradual.

Art is a way to express yourself and through that you can escape a bad situation.

A more happy mind leads to quietness and clarity. And that clarity helps you have a greater capacity to do more and to become more successful and more giving.

In the end, the overriding factor in whether or not you realize your dreams is going to be you. Not the world. YOU.

The pain that's created by avoiding hard work is actually much worse than any pain created from the actual work itself. Because if you don't begin to work on those ideas that God has blessed you with, they will become stagnant inside of you and eventually begin to eat away at you. You might seem OK on the outside, but inside you will be ill from not getting those ideas out of your heart and into the world. Stalling leads to sickness. But taking steps, even baby steps, always leads to success.

Your purpose is to act on the resources God gives you. If God gives you a bucket of fish, you have to distribute those fish. If you don't, they're going to rot, attract a bunch of flies, and start stinking up your soul.

When you give without reservation, you’ll become a magnet that pulls the world toward you.

You have to be present, awake and happy now.

I live in hip-hop. I don't find it to be offensive.

You cannot find it anywhere, because it is located inside you... happiness is your natural state.

I'm really not an angry vegan, but human beings are f***ing rude.

Judgment of the people in the situation is not helpful. How can you help them is the question.

I think it's very important. I've gone into prisons to meditate with inmates. It's something I plan to do with Tim Robbins soon.

And the more people meditate, the more it increases the positive vibrations turning the planet into a positive, happy place. The more you do that, the greater service you are to God.

If you learn late, you pass it on to people so they can learn early. It's a step process.

I don't know that God favors the person who has a greater reach than those who have a small reach. It's the intention. I try to keep a positive intention, and use whatever resources I have to benefit others.

I signed Jay-Z because he was on fire. I wasn't a genius. The record was great. I put it on The Nutty Professor soundtrack and we signed him.

No matter what we've done or where we've been, every single one of us can change.

I think the artist's job throughout history has been to tell - to say things that people are inspired by.

What I would do to change this planet is have everyone meditate and look inside. Then we'd have a happier, more service-oriented, less-needy world.

I try to use my voice. I know that celebrity is valuable, and people do listen.

The thing about hip-hop is that it's from the underground, ideas from the underbelly, from people who have mostly been locked out, who have not been recognized.

Never change for the mainstream—stay in your lane, and if you’re talented and resilient enough the mainstream will come to you.

Culture in America and everywhere else comes from the suffering, from those who don't want the old ways. They want to bring in the new, whether it's the ballet, when it started, or Shakespeare.

It's always marketeers building their own careers.

If you don't break a hole through the brick wall, don't just start digging a new hole. Keep going until you break through that wall.

I just try to, in my own way, contribute to making a better Hollywood, to move Hollywood to be a leader in social justice, as it always has been, and not to have any holes in their own backyard while they continue to push for equality and all the things that they always stand up for.

You have to be able to say what people are thinking but won't say. It's like Donald Trump.