“For an artist to think in terms of success is like a priest trying to think in terms of success.”

There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.

All good novelists have bad memories.

When we are not sure, we are alive.

Politics, war, marriage, crime, adultery. Everything that exists in the world has something to do with money.

Beauty is like success: we can’t love it for long.

I say that home is where there is a chair and a glass.

You cannot conceive, nor can I, of the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God.

There is a point of no return, unremarked at the time, in most lives.

Morality comes with the sad wisdom of age, when the sense of curiosity has withered.

It’s a strange thing to discover and to believe that you are loved when you know that there is nothing in you for anybody but a parent or a God to love.

One can’t love humanity. One can only love people.

Innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm.

In our hearts there is a ruthless dictator, ready to contemplate the misery of a thousand strangers if it will ensure the happiness of the few we love.

Every monologue sooner or later becomes a discussion.

Reality in our century is not something to be faced.

It is always of interest to know what strikes another human being as remarkable.

My mom was real into like a lot of different musical artists, real artists, even back when Jay-Z and Beyonce was together.

I’m really an artist. I really do this. I don’t need the money. It doesn’t matter to me.

No artist that beefs with me or talks down on my name has that many platinum songs. They’re all gold.

One thing that I do want to say is Drake, as an artist, anybody has to respect him. He’s in the game, and he’s been in the game – he has longevity, even if he doesn’t write or writes his music.

I’m an artiste… I dance, I act, and I do a lot of things that’s got to do with arts, and that’s my space. I feel happiest in that space.

Hear what the artists hear, and listen to the music the way they should, the way I do.

I want to be an artist, an actor who acts really well.

I’ve always wanted to make that change from a rapper into an artist.