Top 302 Quotes & Sayings by Ice Cube - Page 3

When I was in N.W.A. and didn't get paid all the money I was owed, that's when the business side of showbiz hit me. I thought, "Half of this is workin'. I'm famous, but now I need to be famous with some money." That got my brain started at trying to figure out the business end. And once I figured out the business side, I next came to understand that success really comes down to the product, not to me, my personality, or what club I'm seen going into or coming out of. None of that matters.

If you love what you do, and you believe in your talent, there's nothing better than breaking through. There's no better feeling than breaking through.

Everybody who comes from the gangster life - they want what that man in the suburbs wants. Nice family. Nice house. Nice cars. Bills paid. Kids in school. Food on the table. Nothing more.

The hardest period for a writer is the period in-between writing. That's when you can go crazy if you don't allow the creative juices to flow.

I've been fighting my whole career to show a different side and prove naysayers - not prove them wrong, because I don't think you should get your energy from negative people.

Seeing my son getting roughed up by the police is not fun. It brings back memories of when I got roughed up by them. He grew up totally different than how I grew up, and to me, he shouldn't have to go through that.

Embrace what makes up you. Some stereotypes are true - I love chicken, but that's a stereotype, I love f**king basketball, but that's a stereotype, too. But who cares? Embrace it. Be who you are, and don't be ashamed of what that is.

We should love the fact that we're not just getting one point of view. That we have this diversity in entertainment, and people are not scared to be themselves, and people are not scared to make people uncomfortable, and that's all part of it. That's all part of being free.

I think you have to find how the machine can work for you. That's what I mean by "attaching yourself to the machine," 'cause the machine is going to be there, and you can rage against the machine, which is cool, but there's ways that you can benefit off the machine if you're savvy enough and you're sharp enough, smart enough. We all got to live and eat.

The best thing to do is to write about what you know, and if you write about what you know you can always pull those nice little tidbits that hook people, that shows that you know about this world and can bring people into a world that they may not know nothing about.

Keep everybody out your business, that's how you do it. And I mean everybody. It ain't about having a relationship outside of the house. It's about having a relationship within each other. When something go down don't be calling your sister or your mother; I'm not gonna be calling my brother or uncles. We're gonna work it out.

I grew up in the seventies and disco was big. That influenced me the most.

Don't talk about death, I've got too much life to live, To many orders to give.

You want the industry to finally admit that you're good. But I'm still good without their admission.

If the day did not require an AK then it was good

You pay to have a good time, you don't always want to pay to be schooled or sad or reminded how bad you got it. To me a movie theater ain't always the place for that.

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.

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 think my fans respect me for bein' as truthful and honest as you can be and still be Rap music and not be opinion music. It's still Rap, its still style, flavor, flair, and people just kind of like how I present myself and the things that I do.

I feel like I got a whole lot of living to do before I think about summing it up in a book.

Don't want to hear my favorite rapper doin' a love song. If I want to hear something soft, I'll throw on Luther Vandross.

Should I peel a cap or should I let him survive?

Everybody in the world has to compromise. I don't know one person that gets everything they want, so the politicians are going to have to figure that out and stop pointing out, "He shook hands with a Democrat in 1989. He ate with a Republican last week." It's petty high school, even junior high stuff going on. It's junior high politics going on, so it's a shame.

Our household is built on love and respect. And we don't really let negative vibes stay too long. It's worked out. I got a great family, great kids.

Any time there's racism somewhere in sports, we should get it out of there because sports is a place where everything's supposed to be fair.

Most of the problems that we have are brought on by the government and not by music. Music is a mirror of what we're going through, not the cause of what we're going through.

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

[Boycott Oscar] is like crying about not having enough icing on your cake. It's just ridiculous.

I'm always open, and will criticize myself, too. And I just think being that honest with everybody puts you in a different space than somebody who's just shooting venom at a certain group or a certain amount of individuals.

You wanna be remembered for making an impact and changing things. I guess for the good or for the bad, it don't matter. But I guess you just wanna be remembered when it's all said and done.

I'm a menace to society, But girls in biker shorts are so fly to me. After the date, I'mma want to do the wild thing... You're talkin' lobster? I'm thinkin' Burger King.

I want to do more drama. Comedy is the path of least resistance for my company. People know we can do them. People know they get a good response. People want to make them. Who am I to push up against that?

The biggest change in the government's behavior has been because of TV and its ability to show to the world what has happened in this community... that's the biggest change. But without TV... the separation between the government and the people would be much worse than it is.

That's always been my approach, to expose what's going on and what's not being said. I could go the selfish route, and probably make a whole lot more money, but that's not what it's about, it's about speaking for people who can't speak for themselves.

I did Are We There Yet? because I wanted to do a movie for my fans' kids. Black kids don't really see movies on this budget for them, starring them. And there's so many white kids that love that movie.

Nowadays, you can be yourself. You don't have to put on façade. You can be who you are and still be just as successful as the ones who put on the fake façade. You know, it's like reality is just as important as fiction.

Creating is really what I like to do. The best thing in the world is to have an idea in the back of your head and then to make that idea into a movie and have people all over the world enjoy it.

If you really look at my lyrics, nobody's exempt. Nobody's exempt from observation, criticism or what I think is correction.

I think when hip hop first started, people were open to it, and groups like Public Enemy and there was groups like Poor Righteous Teachers and all these people who were spitting a lot of knowledge, a lot of history, questioning a lot of societal barriers was starting to be super popular.

Everybody that wants to be successful should always be careful of what you wish for. A lot of artists and entertainers want to put the genie back in the bottle and wish they could go back to being what they were.

You have to resist falling in love with the money they [producers] want to give you. You have to really resist that, and you have to just think about the work and whether it's a movie that you would want to see.

You got to get used to somebody, when you're acting or going through a scene, somebody yelling, "Do it a little louder!" OK, you do it a little louder.

I'm always the "less is more" guy when it comes to a scene. So I'ma be the one who will keep it grounded. Even if I let it go off and go crazy, I'm still the voice of keeping things grounded in reality.

I don't cook gumbo, but I just know it's a lot of good ingredients in it. And, with a movie, you got to have all those ingredients.

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

Never question the size of Ice Cube's balls!

You wanna be remembered for making an impact and changing things.And I guess for the good or for the bad, it don't matter. But I guess you just wanna be remembered when it's all said and done.

To me, it's my job not to laugh, no matter what's said. By the time we shoot, I'm ready for all that's coming. I probably do most of my breaking in rehearsals, when I know that I can.

I think rap music is the sole reason for a lot of black acceptance in pop culture; because the music is very popular, it gets our image out in other ways than in movies.

You never get tired of seeing yourself on TV. It's always extra cool... always a treat.

I know my flavor's going to work because I just know there's not a lot of guys like me around. So you got to figure out what's that about you.

It's easier for me to get comedies made because of my track record. Everybody needs to find their niche. I love dramas, but I understand that I am still just a young man in moviemaking. I know there will be some time to get back to that.

I've always gotten good grades, you know, with my teachers and my English teachers, 'cause I was able to - they'd say, "What did you do for the summer?" I'm able to explain it to them in a written form. And my teachers always patted me on the back for that, being able to take what's in my mind and put it on paper.

God damn, it's a brand new payback From the straight gangsta mack in straight gangsta black How many motherfuckers gotta pay Went to the shelf and dusted off the AK Caps gotta get peeled Cause "The Nigga Ya Love to hate" still can "Kill at Will"

Do not turn into just cookie-cutter producer, cookie-cutter this, but a producer that people say wow, when they do something it's great or just unique or whatever.

There's rumors in the Twittersphere. If I find out that any of my officer is giving out drug and alcohol I send their ass to prison with a snorkel duct-taped to their mouth and me s***ing down that Snorkel

I could do an interview or just as well not do one. It's not like I'm looking for extra publicity.

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

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.

The devil made you a slave. Your waitin' for the devil to come from the ground. Take a look around. Just look at the cross that the priest is holdin'. A beast, in sheep's clothin'. You are the prince of darkness. Hell born, demonic.