Russell Simmons Quotes

I just said let’s get some poets on tv. And when they said that sounded unlikely, I made it worse. I said, no man, I want to put a bunch of black poets on stage, too.

You need Black [people] sometimes to understand things about Black culture.

Hip-hop is about tearing down the system to better it, tearing down the system to better themselves. No matter how flimsy it might seem, they always wanted the finer things in life.

I don’t like to say, Oh, this is my favorite record because there was a moment that that record made me feel a certain way. The one on the radio at the present moment could be the one that’s most inspiring, because it’s at that second that you’re aware of “the infinite everything.”

Mistakes only cost you when you don’t acknowledge them.

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.

Hollywood is full of very liberal people, but it still has an infrastructure that needs to be broken.

I don’t believe that people create their own visions. Rather, I believe that visions are actually God’s way of communicating with us.

Not every move you make has to be a great leap

The elected officials should be working for the voters who elected them. Money corrupts the process. Why would you be giving a candidate money unless you expect something in return?