Quotes by Jay-Z

Jealousy’s a weak emotion.

This communist talk is so confusing

Artists can have greater access to reality; they can see patterns and details and connections that other people, distracted by the blur of life, might miss. Just sharing that truth can be a very powerful thing.

Im a hustler, baby; I sell water to a well!

As sure as this Earth is turnin, souls burnin / In search of higher learnin, turnin in every direction seeking direction / My moms cryin cause her insides are dyin / Her son tryin her patience, keep her heart racin / A million beats a minute, I know I push you to your limit / But its this game, love—Im caught up all in it / They make it so you cant prevent it, never give it / You gotta take it, cant fake it, I keep it authentic / My hand got this pistol shakin, cause I sense danger / Like Camp Crystal Lake, and / Dont wanna shoot him, but I got him, trapped / Within this infrared dot, bout to hot him and hit rock bottom / No answers to these trick questions, no time shit stressin / My life found I got ta live for the right now / Time waits for no man, cant turn back the hands / Once its too late, gotta learn to live with regrets

No, Im not interested in politics. I have zero interest. I have interest in hope and people.

Hip-hop is more about attaining wealth. People respect success. They respect big. They dont even have to like your music. If youre big enough, people are drawn to you.

Successful people have a bigger fear of failure than people whove never done anything because if you havent been successful, then you dont know how it feels to lose it all. You dont have that fear. So why do you think people get stuck in those boxes? Its that fear of going back down.

Successful people have a bigger fear of failure than people whove never done anything because if you havent been successful, then you dont know how it feels to lose it all.

Im a mirror. If youre cool with me, Im cool with you, and the exchange starts. What you see is what you reflect. If you dont like what you see, then youve done something. If Im standoffish, thats because you are.

Racism is taught in the home. We agree on that? Well, its very hard to teach racism to a teenager whos listening to rap music and who idolizes, say, Snoop Dogg. Its hard to say, That guy is less than you. The kid is like, I like that guy, hes cool. How is he less than me?

Ive always believed in good music over bad music. I believe in two sorts of musics. And the lines that separate us, I dont believe in that. Thats for people who need to easily define what theyre hearing. Me, Im cool with everything and anything Im hearing thats music. It comes under one definition for me.

You make your first album, you make some money, and you feel like you still have to show face, like I still go to the projects. Im like, why? Your job is to inspire people from your neighborhood to get out. You grew up there. What makes you think its so cool?

Growing up, politics never trickled down to the areas we come from. But people from Obamas camp, and Obama himself, reached out to me and asked for my help on the campaign. Weve sat and had dinner, and weve spoken on the phone. Hes a very sharp guy. Very charming. Very cool.

Ive got a nice collection of paintings - a Basquiat, a black-and-white Warhol thats like a Rorschach test, and I commissioned Takashi Murakami to do a ten-foot joint for me. Its almost like the explosion in Hiroshima with his famous skeleton head. Theres a wall above my fireplace reserved for it.

I learned to ride a ten-speed when I was 4 or 5. My uncle gave me the bike, hand-me-down, and everyone used to stare at me riding up and down this block. I was too short to reach the pedals, so I put my legs through the V of the frame. I was famous. The little kid who could ride the ten-speed.

I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can.

It wasnt until sixth grade, at P.S. 168, when my teacher took us on a field trip to her house that I realized we were poor. I have no idea what my teachers intentions were - whether she was trying to inspire us or if she actually thought visiting her Manhattan brownstone with her view of Central Park qualified as a school trip.

Thats why this generation is the least racist generation ever. You see it all the time. Go to any club. People are intermingling, hanging out, having fun, enjoying the same music. Hip-hop is not just in the Bronx anymore. Its worldwide. Everywhere you go, people are listening to hip-hop and partying together. Hip-hop has done that.

I think in London - and I dont wanna offend anybody in America, but this is a real statement - they still have the right approach to making music. In the U.S., people see it as a way to make money; they see it as a means to get out. Its a hustle, which is great - any way you can provide for your family thats legal is fantastic.