Quotes

“You were not built for average. Stop settling for it.”

“Silence isn't peace. Sometimes it's just fear wearing a mask.”

“Build something your grandchildren will be proud of.”

“Your story isn't over. It's just getting to the good part.”

“Excellence is not a goal. It's a standard.”

“Stop shrinking yourself to fit in spaces that were never built for you.”

“The version of you they doubted is the one that's going to make it.”

“You can't pour from an empty cup. Fill yourself first.”

“Rest is not quitting. Rest is reloading.”

“Your ancestors survived so you could thrive. Don't waste the inheritance.”

“The thing about hip-hop today is it's smart, it's insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message simply.”

“Build your own dreams or someone else will hire you to build theirs.”

“I decided to use my platform to speak up for those who couldn't speak for themselves.”

“Embrace what makes you unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable.”

“Hard days are the best because that's when champions are made.”

“Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, elusive, god-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste. It's something that truly exists in all of us.”

“The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence.”

“I like criticism. It makes you strong.”

“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.”

“I'm not on the outside looking in. I'm not on the inside looking out. I'm in the center, looking around.”

“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not.”

“Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down. And trust your instincts. Good relationships feel good.”

“I had to grow to love my body. I did not have a good self-image at first.”

“If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.”

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

“We must believe that it is the darkest before the dawn of a beautiful new world.”

“I am not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner.”

“We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

“You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people if you don't serve the people.”

“I liberated myself from feeling anything about race by knowing my history.”

“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

“I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear.”

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”

“I am where I am because of the bridges that I crossed. Sojourner Truth was a bridge. Harriet Tubman was a bridge.”

“I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving in.”

“Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.”

“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”

“Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.”

“I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time been ashamed.”

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.”

“We must never be afraid to go too far, for truth lies beyond.”

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.”

“Hold on to your dreams of a better life and stay committed to striving to realize it.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.”

“When you learn, teach. When you get, give.”

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”

“We are the ones we have been waiting for.”

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer.”

“I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come.”

“If you don't understand yourself you don't understand anybody else.”

“I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.”

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.”

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept”