“Loneliness is everything it’s cracked up to be.”

For me, I find that even though I’ve accomplished a few things in my life, looking back on accomplishments doesn’t give me a sense of satisfaction.

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while or the light won’t come in. If you challenge your own, you won’t be so quick to accept the unchallenged assumptions of others.

When I’m writing, I want to try to be seen as a good writer.

artists try to say things that can’t be said. in a fragile net of words, gestures, or colors, we hope to capture a feeling.

Originality is unexplored territory. You get there by carrying a canoe – you can’t take a taxi.

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won’t come in.

The other one, and probably an equal pleasure, is finding out how I can be helpful and then really being helpful.

War is war and Hell is hell, and if you ask me, War is a lot worse.

Republicans are as capable of coming up with great ideas and moving this country along as anyone – they just don’t do it.

And I think belief is one of those things that comes to people in their own way. And just because I believe in something doesn’t mean I think that you should.

I would box them into a corner with a badly formed question, and they didn’t know how to get out of it. Now, I let them take me through it step by step, and I listen.

How can I ever hope to communicate something to you unless I get signals back from you that I’m on the right track or that I’ve started at some place that you’re familiar with?

No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle and good, without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.

Being mystified is a good beginning, because you won’t do what you’ve done before.

If you don’t listen deeply, the connection won’t take place.

Musicals are hard for me because I got thrown out of the glee club in high school, because I couldn’t sing in tune at the time.

That everything around you give you its utter attention, think only of you, care only for you…every man wants to be a tyrant when he fornicates.

The fellow that agrees with everything you say is either a fool or he is getting ready to skin you.

Stillmatic’ is the rebirth of ‘Illmatic,’ my first debut album to come out in 1994. ‘Stillmatic’ is me coming full circle in my career and with everything, and just bringing pure hip-hop back.

Imperious, choleric, irascible, extreme in everything, with a dissolute imagination the like of which has never been seen, atheistic to the point of fanaticism, there you have me in a nutshell, and kill me again or take me as I am, for I shall not change.

I listen to everything – from Sarah McLachlan and Alanis Morissette all the way down to rap like Scarface, UGK and Lauryn Hill.

This concept must be changed; we must realize in our bones that almost everything in time and history has changed except the human being.

Chaos is impatient. It’s random. And above all it’s selfish. It tears down everything just for the sake of change, feeding on itself in constant hunger. But Chaos can also be appealing. It tempts you to believe that nothing matters except what you want.

I need not instruct you of my belief: Time gives all and takes all away ; everything changes but nothing perishes ;