“Doing it your own way, not having to go exactly by the book to be successful.”

I always want to read the script before I totally commit.

Rap is just somebody getting something off his chest. That’s all it is.

If you born in the mud, you gonna be dirty, and people don’t understand that.

I identify with the bottom of the pyramid, because, outside of having money, I am at the bottom of the pyramid.

I believe every pencil has to be sharpened every now and then to stay sharp, or you dull out. So my records, I chose to speak on what black people do, what white people do, what women do, what men do.

A bird in the hand is worth more than a Bush.

To me, in a perfect world, you have the flavor and the magic of movies like 48 Hours, Lethal Weapon and Bad Boys.

You like a woman, she’s got kids, it’s a package. You can’t just go in one-sided.

Truth is the ultimate power. When the truth comes around, all the lies have to run and hide.

A lot of people have a misconception of what the ghetto is all about. You know, it’s only a small percentage of the people that are bad. Everybody else is good.

If you think about stuff that happened when you were young, it stays with you forever.

I’m not really into the political game as far as paying politicians and stuff like that, I’m not into that. You do your job, and I’ll do mine.

I love any time you can enlighten people to mistakes, that’s how I started my career.

The real is always presented. That hardcore record or movie is not needed in the hood, because it’s already there. You can see it with your own eyes.

I have a really beautiful life right now, so there is no reason to be hostile. I’m a husband, a father and a man who tries to do the right thing in life and in my work.

My advice for anyone who wants to follow in my footsteps: create your own path, hone your talent, be ready to show your talent, and don’t doubt yourself.

A good book is an education of the heart. It enlarges your sense of human possibility what human nature is of what happens in the world. It’s a creator of inwardness.

No book can teach you about yourself, no psychologist, none of the professors or philosophers. What they can teach you is what they think you are or what they think you should be.

Life is too short to read a bad book.

One who believes all of a book would be better off without books.

My library is an archive of longings.

The deity is within you, not in ideas and books. Truth is lived, not taught.

Every book is a children’s book if the kid can read!

Books are funny little portable pieces of thought.