Queen Latifah Quotes & Sayings

I believe that the kids, young people should have an opportunity to have Oscar nominated actors in their movies too. — Queen Latifah

I was baptized a Baptist, but I'm just Christian, as far as I'm concerned. I could go in any church, doesn't matter if it's Baptist, Protestant, Episcopal, or Catholic. — Queen Latifah

Business is fun. Controlling your own destiny is fun. Creating an idea and turning it into a movie; finding an artist and guiding their career and bringing them to some type of status - there's joy in that. — Queen Latifah

The more you push the budgets up, the more you make records cost $20, the more you make records last 4 and 5 minutes on the radio. — Queen Latifah

Even if you don't have anything, even if you've got a quarter in your pocket, to share with someone else who has nothing really helps. — Queen Latifah

If there are kids who want to follow in my footsteps, I'd say that my shoes are too big for them to fill! But their shoe size is just perfect. — Queen Latifah

I feel anger and I feel understanding. It's a difficult position to be in. — Queen Latifah

There are times you can't really see or even feel how sweet life can be. Hopefully its mountains will be higher than its valleys are deep. I know things that are broken can be fixed. Take the punch if you have to, hit the canvas and then get up again. Life is worth it. — Queen Latifah

I am not one to turn down macaroni and cheese, even late at night. I love Italian food. I love pasta ... A refrigerator full of water and Gatorade? Honey, that's just not gonna happen. — Queen Latifah

While we [people] keep putting a face on HIV and AIDS, I think what we forget is that there are human beings, just people with emotions and feelings, women who want to be loved, men who want to be loved, who want to feel something. — Queen Latifah

I know people who are twice as creative as I am, twice as smart, but they didn't do anything because they feared going into a room and opening their mouths. My parents told me to truly accomplish things in my life, there would be times I would have to stand alone. It may be scary, but that's what it requires. — Queen Latifah

I used to do school plays. I never really took any acting classes. I'm just a natural ham, I guess. — Queen Latifah

I have to be realistic about what I can and can't do. So whatever I do has to really be worth it. I like to master the things I do. — Queen Latifah

No one ever got ahead by going through the motions. You have to constantly be improving yourself. Make your life the masterpiece you want it to be. — Queen Latifah

New Jersey is a great place to live. And we have given some of the best talent to the world, from Jack Nicholson, John Travolta, to Jerry Lewis to Bon Jovi to Frank Sinatra. — Queen Latifah

When you're rapping, you do have to perform to a certain degree, but not every rapper is necessarily a gifted actor. — Queen Latifah

A confident woman is a sexy woman, in my opinion. And I think guys find that to be the same way. — Queen Latifah

I have a no-die clause in every movie. The black people can't be dying all the time. — Queen Latifah

You almost have to step outside yourself and look at you as if you were someone else you really care about and really want to protect. Would you let someone take advantage of that person? Would you let someone use that person you really care about? Or would you speak up for them? If it was someone else you care about, you'd say something. I know you would. Okay, now put yourself back in that body. That person is you. Stand up and tell 'em, Enough! — Queen Latifah

I have a drum set in my dressing room. I play drums to relax and have some fun. — Queen Latifah

Beauty is not just a white girl. It's so many different flavors and shades. — Queen Latifah

I'm cool with myself. If I can't have the body of Angie Bassett, so be it. — Queen Latifah

People say I'm going to be the next Oprah. But I say no, because Oprah is still Oprah. I'll be the next me. I feel like there's always a lane for me as long as I'm true to myself. — Queen Latifah

I've loved car racing all my life. I watch NASCAR regularly, and drag racing because we have Raceway Park in New Jersey. I think I got it from my father. — Queen Latifah

For myself music definitely informs my emotions. And I can literally play a song that will get me where I need to be emotionally. I don't have to think about the tragic things that happened in my life or the greatest things that happened in my life. — Queen Latifah

My house borders horse farms, and I can look out my window and see the horses and the new colts. It's really peaceful. — Queen Latifah

I remember praying for peace all the time as a kid. — Queen Latifah

There are a lot of people who helped make Queen Latifah who she is today. I don't forget, but a lot of people do and get big heads. My mom will make me walk the dogs or take out the trash when I go home. I'm not allowed to get a big head; I've still got to do the simple things in life. — Queen Latifah

When you have a family as big as mine, there are many things that affect my family members, in many different ways. It could be high blood pressure, it could be cholesterol, it could be obesity, it could be sleep deprivation or sleep apnea. An illness is an illness, especially if it affects younger kids. Illnesses affect your family and they impact you because you want to do the best you can to help your family member become more healthy, just as my family members want me to be healthy. — Queen Latifah

I'm not one of those people who wake up chatting. I usually don't want to speak for the first 10 or 20 minutes. And I don't really want you to talk to me either! — Queen Latifah

You do silly things for love sometimes and not-so-smart things for love. — Queen Latifah

I didn't know I had it in me. There's more to all of us than we realize. Life is so much bigger, grander, higher, and wider than we allow ourselves to think. We're capable of so much more than we allow ourselves to believe. — Queen Latifah

I don't have to really be in the 60s. Every time I hail a cab in New York, and they pass me by and pick up the white person, then I get a dose of it. Or when they don't want to take you to Harlem. I grew up with that. — Queen Latifah

My legs are nice, my lips are shapely, and my breasts are pretty. They popped up when I was 11 and they weren't small then. I was teased, but now those kids wish they had what I have! — Queen Latifah

I don't care how much money you have, free stuff is always a good thing. — Queen Latifah

Don't you want to know what's real and what's not? I remember when I was a kid, you know, this whole Cold War thing. They had us scared of the Russians. So, it's almost like, what's real and what's not? — Queen Latifah

The movie I've seen a million times is 'Steel Magnolias,' directed by Herbert Ross, starring Sally Field and Julia Roberts. — Queen Latifah

The good thing about movies is that they're subjective. You can connect to different themes depending on your own perspective. — Queen Latifah

To me, I always felt like I was carrying a torch for women of any size to be themselves - it doesn't matter whether you're a size 2 or a 22, just be who you are. — Queen Latifah

Sometimes when I am in a situation that I have never been in, I kind of pull back a little bit to observe things; it doesn't really last long though I have to. I've resigned to myself to the fact that I have to be me. — Queen Latifah

The objectification of females is not a good thing! Not every rapper does this, but when the lyrics focus solely on the strip club, 'poppin' bottles' and how many girls they can 'tap,' it distorts what kids are learning. I think if there was more of a female presence in hip hop we could break up the monotony. It's all about balance. — Queen Latifah

When it came time to be a professional rapper, I wouldn't sign anything without reading it. There was no way I was going to have people make decisions for me or wake up one day and find that I was broke because I never bothered to read a contract. — Queen Latifah

You can't ask someone who is not making that kind of money to go to the record store and buy an album when someone down the street has the same record with same sound quality for $5. — Queen Latifah

Let your inner queen's voice come through loud and clear. Be strong, be authentic, be you, and you'll do her proud. — Queen Latifah

When my body feels good, I feel more energized and alive, and that's sexy. I'm taking care of this body God gave me. — Queen Latifah

I just like ladies who have class ... just be yourself and let your personality shine and let your individuality show. To me, that's sexier. A confident woman is a sexy woman, in my opinion — Queen Latifah

I really don't know how to be anyone else, and whenever I try to be anyone else, I fail miserably. Or I disappoint myself. It doesn't build my self-esteem, and it doesn't help me grow me at all. — Queen Latifah

I would like - either as an actor, or producer or even director - to do something sci-fi or action-related. I like sci-fi, always have, 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars' and all that stuff. — Queen Latifah

I do feel like I have a direct connection with God for some reason; always have since I was a little kid - I would talk to God, talk to the sky. — Queen Latifah

I've hosted the Soul Train awards, the American Music Awards ... and I had my own talk show. So if I can't host by now, what the hell can I do? — Queen Latifah

There's no way I can represent for everyone. I can't represent for all women or all big women or all black women. It's important for people not to make celebrities their source of who they should be in life. I can't take on the pressure of being perfect. Nobody is. — Queen Latifah

I feel strongly that women who look like me should feel great. So I am not changing. — Queen Latifah

I designed my whole image. That was all me. I just bought some regular clothes, threw a medallion around my neck, and that was it. The next thing I know, that's the look. — Queen Latifah

As a teenager, I had big breasts for my age, and my friends cracked on me a lot. — Queen Latifah

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm way more of a joker than I am a serious person. — Queen Latifah

I actually enjoy that I never really needed to be hanging out with every celebrity in Hollywood; I just go home and hang out with my cousins, my best friends. I'm not treated like royalty; they love me to death, but they don't treat me like royalty. So it's easy for me; they'll tell me the truth, whether it hurts or not. And I need that; I've always been given that. — Queen Latifah

I support many organizations that I feel are doing the right thing, like Alonzo Mourning's foundation, Alicia Keys' foundation, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and other well-established foundations. I kick out a lot of time and money wherever I can. — Queen Latifah

Dreams become reality when we put our minds to it. — Queen Latifah

I love Ralph Lauren, just as a designer. I still think he could make some better sizes with his clothes, but I like the idea of his classic American style. — Queen Latifah

I want to have and adopt. I always have; ever since I was 18, I wanted a baby, and I wanted to have and adopt because there are a lot of kids. I want to adopt an American baby though, you know what I mean, no offense. Just because there are so many kids here that need our help. — Queen Latifah

I don't feel like I need to share my personal life, and I don't care if people think I'm gay or not. Assume whatever you want. You do it anyway. — Queen Latifah

To me, doing a gay pride show is one of the most fun things. My first show that paid more than $10,000 was in a gay club on New Year's Eve in San Francisco. — Queen Latifah

I got a few marriage proposals in my 20s. I just wasn't ready. I just knew if I committed, I would've wound up doing something wrong, messing it up. I still felt like I had some living to do. — Queen Latifah

I have always felt strongly about empowering women. I'm living proof that, with confidence and by believing in yourself, you can accomplish any goal. — Queen Latifah

I don't want to be a supermodel; I want to be a role model. — Queen Latifah

My mom was my main influence growing up, and Phylicia Rashad reminded me a lot of my mother, just the way she handled certain things, she was ... not soft-spoken but smooth-spoken. Just very calm, cool, collected about things. — Queen Latifah

Sometimes I pray when I really feel like I need God to help me with something, and sometimes we just have conversations. We just kick it. — Queen Latifah

So often, you don't get that opportunity. You only go over everything once and, the next thing you know, you're on set. — Queen Latifah

I have my dad's shape. No booty. — Queen Latifah

Fear can be good when you're walking past an alley at night or when you need to check the locks on your doors before you go to bed, but it's not good when you have a goal and you're fearful of obstacles. We often get trapped by our fears, but anyone who has had success has failed before. — Queen Latifah

I write pretty often. I have a home studio. Music is what I do for fun. I never get tired of it, so to take a break from [TV and movies], I would go make some music. — Queen Latifah

Living for today will bring about dying for today. You can't just think 'I'm going to die anyway', because that's what's stopping us from moving forward. — Queen Latifah

I came from a crew, and to me, all the guys I rapped with were better than me, so I was surprised when I was the breakout one. It was definitely a cool thing. — Queen Latifah

Yeah, I'm from Jersey; it's almost like I was automatically born a Nets fan. — Queen Latifah

I'm the daughter of a sister whose the mother of a brother who's the brother of another. — Queen Latifah

I'm a sucker for a man who cries. It just gets to me. — Queen Latifah

Lets be clear, Dolly Parton is a rapper. Somewhere before all the country, I don't know what happens up there in the mountains when you're growing up, but she has been spitting rhymes for a very long time - 50 years I'd say. — Queen Latifah

Once you realize there is a Higher Power, you know you're not alone, that you have a purpose on the planet. You control your destiny instead of letting the day lead you where it may. You seize it, take it and lead it. — Queen Latifah

I am a strong woman with or without this other person, with or without this job, and with or without these tight pants. — Queen Latifah

A lot of people are crazy, cruel and negative. They got a little too much time on their hands to discuss everybody else. I have a limited amount of energy to blow in a day. I'd rather read something that I like or watch a program I enjoy or ride my damn motorcycle or throw back a couple of shots of tequila with my friends. — Queen Latifah

You have to allow your mind to create and then if you want to censor something and bring it down or point it in a different direction, then you can do it. — Queen Latifah

You can huff and puff. But blow me down? I doubt it kid, or you get your ass whupped. — Queen Latifah

When I was around 18, I looked in the mirror and said, 'You're either going to love yourself or hate yourself.' And I decided to love myself. That changed a lot of things. — Queen Latifah

I've been giving back since I was a teen, handing out turkeys at Thanksgiving and handing out toys at toys drives for Christmas. It's very important to give back as a youth. It's as simple as helping an old lady across the street or giving up your seat on the bus for someone who is pregnant. — Queen Latifah

I'm thinking wanting to succeed is something in my DNA; I'm not like 'I've got to succeed,' I just don't think about that. I see a silver lining in everything and I see a lesson in everything. — Queen Latifah

I did Jay Leno with Mike the Situation, and he just - he lives, like, ten minutes from me in Jersey. He's like, 'If you ever get a flat, call me. I'll come fix your tire.' That's how we do. That's neighborly, you know? — Queen Latifah

It was a very vulnerable time going from being insecure about my body and who I am to becoming comfortable with me. I had to tune out what the hell everybody else had to say about who I was. When I was able to do that, I felt free. — Queen Latifah

To step into acting was not that difficult a transition to make. What was difficult was the work and the practice that went into becoming good at it, because I hadn't had any training. — Queen Latifah

I enjoy going to work and having a good time. It's tough when you got to work with people who just are in a bad mood all the damn time. — Queen Latifah

There was always music in our home. My mom and my dad loved music. I remember when we were kids we would have these great parties at the house with congas and bongos and African drums, and it was amazing. It wasn't until years later that I found out that they were actually Black Panther meetings. — Queen Latifah

I lost relatives to AIDS. A couple of my closest cousins, favorite cousins. I lost friends to AIDS, high school friends who never even made it to their 21st birthdays in the '80s. When it's that close to you, you can't - you know, you can't really deny it, and you can't run from it. — Queen Latifah

I never wanted to give up my power. I wanted to be able to make my own decisions, so that's why I became involved in management, bottom line. — Queen Latifah

I never pictured myself as just a rapper; I always wanted to act and do whatever else I could do. I always felt like I could do a lot of different things. — Queen Latifah

I often go to bed in my birthday suit. But I like teddies and cute little undies that match. I like a sexy bra and panty set, or little shorts. — Queen Latifah

My mom will make me walk the dogs or take out the trash when I go home. — Queen Latifah

Dolly Parton made me chicken and dumplings. That Tennessee woman can burn some pots! And we know that I am not necessarily shy to a fork! — Queen Latifah

I know a lot of people who really aren't beautiful because their attitudes are very nasty ... Whether I make the 50 most beautiful list or not, I'm always going to feel like I'm number one most beautiful to myself ... I get that from my mom, and my daddy and my friends who raised me. — Queen Latifah

If you try to follow everyone else's mold, you'll probably fail at some point because God created us uniquely for a reason. — Queen Latifah

People have often asked me, do I want to be the next Oprah - there is no such thing. Oprah is Oprah, and she's still being Oprah if anybody hasn't noticed ... what I bring to TV is myself ... I really think there's space in daytime TV for a whole bunch of fun, some amazing music, and some heart. — Queen Latifah

Every woman is a queen, and we all have different things to offer. — Queen Latifah