“You can take care of your body, and it will low-key show you respect in turn.”

I live in my imagination, so sometimes movies help me get lost. I feel like I’m in it.

I was raised orthodox Muslim. Very sheltered, very conservative.

I was a funky kid.

I was a gymnast for 13 years, so I was heavy into sports.

I just think I have too much anxiety to listen to music. Sometimes it feels like noise, and sometimes it’s so affecting that I can’t recover from it.

I love folk. I love rap.

I learned everything the hard way – like, literally, everything. I know that God does that to people that he has lessons for. I just wish that I had learned less extreme lessons.

Wearing a hijab never made me feel any more conservative – it made me feel safe. Then, after 9/11, I became the butt of a joke on the playground, so I stopped wearing it. Kids can be really cruel when you’re the only black girl in your Girl Scout troop.

I feel like when you say ‘activist,’ you have to have so much clarity, and I don’t always necessarily have so much clarity on how I want to help others, I just have this weird, deep urge to help other people. I’m trying to let God guide my body and use it as whatever kind of vehicle or vessel it needs to be.

It starts with trusting yourself, even if people are telling you you’re too young to trust yourself.

I want to excel at something, to follow through, to not be afraid.

Mental health and family above all things. Period.

I don’t listen to my own music, so to me, it’s awesome that people really like it. I was afraid that it wouldn’t connect with everyone. I’m more appreciative than anything. SZA

I have an abundant amount of love in my life, and I’m grateful for that.

I made this and have too much to say about it.

I wasn’t popular in high school; I had no friends.

I do isometrics in church so while I’m doing my soul some good, I’m doing my body some good, too.

But a Book is only the Heart’s Portrait- every Page a Pulse.

The flesh feeds on the Body and Blood of Christ that the soul may be fattened on God.

Bottom line, your body is a temple, and you have to treat it that way. That’s how God designed it.

All the forces that are working in this body have been produced out of food; we see that every day.

We are all creatures of habit. We can do most things without even thinking about them; our bodies take charge and do them for us.

I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.

I’m a firm believer in research, but I’m also a firm believer in utilizing the instincts that are within your soul or in your body or in your stomach, wherever they reside.