Top 175 Quotes & Sayings by Mary J. Blige - Page 2

When I was little, like 7 to 15, there was nothing I wanted to do but go to church and go to school.

When you know what pain is, and when you have to make a choice, you learn that it is a decision. People think it's a fairytale thing, love and happiness, but you have to work hard. And then - you feel it deeply.

This music business can suck all the love out of you, all the compassion for people - you can start to think you're better than them. But I want to continue to let people know that I'm no better and no worse, I'm just like you.

In the inner city, there's a mentality that the government owes you something. My breakthrough came when I stopped feeling sorry for myself and took responsibility for every part of my life. No more pity parties. I've gotta love me more than anybody else loves me.

People know what they see but they don't know what's happening inside. If you want to know who you are and how you feel about yourself, take a look at your environment.

I don't know what kind of God the rest of y'all are serving, but the God I serve says, 'Mary, you need to be the hottest thing this year, and I'm gonna make sure you're doing that.'

I'm a singer who thinks like a rapper.

I was inspired to create 'My Life' so I could finally share a personal part of my life beyond my music.

I hated myself for so many reasons, and I thought so many things were my fault that happened to me growing up.

I didn't know how to show my self love, and I didn't want anyone else to hurt me. So my tough girl attitude was like, 'I'm not having it.'

No one intimidates me because I'm not trying to do what you do, because I can't do what you do. I can only do what Mary J. Blige can do, so that relaxes me right there, and it gets me out of the competition and that whole thing.

I wish I had an extra day with my mom sometimes. Or another hour in the day with my family, husband and children.

I can go out raw with nothing, and my fans would still be happy, but I feel that I owe it to them to give them almost like a Broadway musical at this point in my life. I have to give them something more, so I do have to think of different ways to do it.

When you come from so many damaged places you don't ever want to spiral back there, so you gotta continue to check yourself.

By the time I was a teenager, when I went outside the house, it was about hip-hop all the time. Nothing but hip-hop, block parties.

You know a lot, but you don't know everything.

Music is where my love is. I don't think the acting thing is going to start outweighing that, but I think it's going to start being a good chunk of something I want to do.

I suffered from self hatred so much. It's like I didn't want to look like that any more. I didn't to feel like that any more. It had to be another way.

I can't just make a song people can dance in a club to... it still has to be real.

I care about me now. When I didn't care about me, I was, like, 'Why is this going wrong? Why is my life so bad?' But when you don't care about yourself, nobody else is going to care about you. So I learned to love myself, even if nobody else does.

I'm from the element of the streets that says that once you've made it, it's yours. But keep it to yourself.

When you finally understand who you are, ages 6 through 60 will understand who you are. Because when they see a person that's come through all that I've come through, still standing, it's amazing.

I wouldn't adopt, but what I will do is give my time and go and try to be there for people.

I'm on my way to a place where I'd never dreamed I'd be, and that's perfection.

I've been praying to God to show me how to forgive myself. Because... maybe... that's the thing I've been searching for.

'My Life' is soft, with notes of pear and gardenia, but still bold, with a woody base.

It's not just songs and glamour. It's sweat, blood, broken toes, and mistakes... It's life.

It's challenging to find an identity as a young person if you don't have the sustenance of love, because you're being shipped around.

I started speaking about what I was dealing with through my music, and 4 million women responded and said, 'Us too, Mary.' And I didn't know that everyone was hurting like I was hurting. I had no idea.

It hurts a lot when you cannot really comprehend what a person is saying in a meeting, or you don't even understand what you're reading in your contract.

I don't think there's anything they can say about me that I haven't said about myself already. And I would be an absolute total liar, and my fans would not respect me, if I said that my life and my marriage are perfect. But we absolutely love each other; we have fun together - it's great.

My first album is playful.

When you wake up and learn to love yourself and want to take care of yourself, things are harder because people don't like the idea of it. But when you get in trouble, it gives people things to talk about.

Yonkers made me strong and made me believe in myself, because so many people would doubt you and not believe. There are people that would believe in you, but the environment was so harsh, nobody wanted you to get out, you know?

I've never been a mean person.

Larry David makes me laugh.

Even if you feel someone has wronged you or owes you something, no one is going to give you anything for free.

I've done well, I've been disappointed, and I think it all goes back to you. Of course the labels are going to be the labels. It's the music business. You are a business. That's what they do. So you've got to protect yourself.

When someone comes up to me and says, 'Mary, you helped save my marriage', or, 'Mary, you helped me get out of this abusive relationship', I'm in it, really in their lives. And I'm so passionate about my feelings, but also about showing people the way through theirs.

If I'm going to be the best in what I do, I have to study what I'm doing, I have to see what I'm doing. I have to see it, I have to hear it. I'm just starting to appreciate myself - not starting, but appreciating myself in a way where I can look at myself back in a movie or listen to myself as much as I do now.

Two hurt people can not help each other. They can not.

I always want to be a messenger, a person that, you know, that's not afraid to pass on wisdom.

I like hanging out with me, and I've accepted everything about me good, bad whatever it is. That's why I'm able to, that's why no one can tell me anything negative about myself.

I can tell you I didn't feel good when I could not articulate properly. Getting my GED was important and I want other women to feel that.

I'm a child of God. God is my mommy, my daddy. That's the only thing that'll keep my head up. If I don't remember who I am in him, I'm done.

When I was a kid, I needed to sing because it makes me feel good about myself. It makes me feel good, period.

I felt ashamed about everything. Me dropping out of high school, me not, you know, just not being beautiful enough. I just didn't feel like I was smart enough or beautiful enough, you know, for years.

I truly enjoy Bono. I think he is an amazing person; I love him.

As long as I live, I know I'll have feelings. And that's what I'm passionate about.

I grew up watching MTV, when Journey was huge, when Pat Benatar had 'Love Is a Battlefield,' and my friends and I used to cut school to watch this woman in the video. We loved Pat Benatar.

I never do any album to beat it. I do it to extend it.

Nowadays, with the state of the music business, for any artist, whether you're up-and-coming or you've been in it for awhile, you have to explore different revenues and different ways of expressing yourself.

As a kid, I dreamed about being onstage.

There are people out there who want to provoke me and bring back the old Mary but I'm not giving them the satisfaction.

I just want fans to walk away knowing that no matter what's going on, no matter how happy you are, no matter how sad you are, we did it. We're strong in this. We've come a long way, and life is not just one thing.

I just love food, period.

I remember a time when all my fans were crying and sad and going through hell. Now, we're trying to uplift each other and accept ourselves for who we are, even if nobody else does.

The younger Mary J. Blige, I would call her, she was very unaware, ignorant.

I've just been growing right along. It's painful, but it's a great pain, and I like suffering for great results. It's like going to the gym. It hurts really bad at first, but after a couple of months and after that diet, you're looking so hot.

I don't have any health problems, but to keep your health improves your quality of life.