Jay-Z Quotes

“I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man!”

“Don't ever go with the flow. Be the flow.”

“The genius thing that we did was, we didn't give up.”

“Don't tell me what was said about me. Tell me why they were so comfortable to say it to you.”

“I'm not afraid of dying, I'm afraid of not trying.”

“May the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows.”

“Belief in oneself and knowing who you are—I mean, that's the foundation for everything great.”

“Remind yourself. Nobody built like you; you design yourself.”

“A wise man told me don't argue with fools. 'Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who.”

“I love what I do, and when you love what you do, you want to be the best at it.”

“I'm hungry for knowledge. The whole thing is to learn every day—to get brighter and brighter.”

“My mom always taught me—you know, little boys listen to their moms too much—that whatever you put into something is what you're going to get out of it.”

“I had a sixth-grade teacher, Miss Lowden, that was very pivotal to my hunger for wanting to know the English language and, you know, discover these words. And it was a tool in the music that — and the poetry that I chose to pursue.”

“I know about budgets. I was a drug dealer. To be in a drug deal, you need to know what you can spend, what you need to re-up. At some point, you have to have an exit strategy, because your window is very small; you're going to get locked up or you're going to die.”

“I grew so much from the experience. But I think the most important thing I got is that everything is connected. Every emotion is connected and it comes from somewhere. And just being aware of it. Being aware of it in everyday life puts you at such an advantage.”

“At 14, 15 years old, you're thinking about sneakers or you're thinking about some sort of relief from all the pain you feeling. You're thinking about buying some food for the house. You're thinking about paying the extra light bill. So at that young age, you're not thinking about the destruction that you're causing your own community.”

“The strongest thing a man can do is cry. To expose your feelings, to be vulnerable in front of the world. That's real strength. You know, you feel like you gotta be this guarded person. That's not real. It's fake.”

“Would you rather be a trend, or you rather be Ralph Lauren? You know what I mean; like, you rather be a trend, or you rather be forever?”

“We was like we gonna create our own company, you know? That's hip-hop. And we created this company called Roc-A-Fella Records. Shout out to Dame; I know we don't see eye to eye, but I can never erase your accomplishments.”

“Those comments forced us to build our own thing. Yes, today is a happy day and I feel very vindicated.”