Russell Simmons Quotes & Sayings

I try to use my voice. I know that celebrity is valuable, and people do listen. — Russell Simmons

Hip-hop is a voice for voiceless poor people. — Russell Simmons

I'm just suggesting that when you're faced with fear and anxiety, don't medicate. Meditate instead. — Russell Simmons

Money doesn't make u happy .. But happy makes you money.. — Russell Simmons

I look for people who have insight in places where I don't. — Russell Simmons

Be encouraged. Stay on your hustle. You can't fail until u quit. — Russell Simmons

The past gives great examples of what can happen in the future. It's always important to remember. — Russell Simmons

America, you know, they always separate people because of race. They've been able to convince, 'The niggers are coming.' You know, the diversity that America has is so special. It's starting to really become a cool thing for young people. Not only because there are more mixes of people, but because people are more open-minded about each other. So I think in the future, America has a great, great opportunity, and mostly because of hip-hop. — Russell Simmons

I just said let's get some poets on tv. And when they said that sounded unlikely, I made it worse. I said, no man, I want to put a bunch of black poets on stage, too. Some Latino poets who barely speak English and Asian poets who can't believe how discriminated against they are. It was luck nad being in the right place. I wasn't saying nothing somebody else wasn't saying but they wouldn't hear it from them. — Russell Simmons

Suffering will always be there. You'll always have the poor. You have to own your own progress. It is true that because of the economy and the fear factor the president [Barack Obama] is able to execute a lot of promises that it would be difficult to deliver it not for the fear factor. It's funny. He's delivering on what he promised and we call it fear. — Russell Simmons

Whatever obstacles appear in your path, put your head down and get past them. Those obstacles aren't real. They're just God's way of testing you. He's asking you, 'Do you want to make it or not?' — Russell Simmons

You've got to put your head down and do the work. There are no shortcuts. — Russell Simmons

There are poor white people who hear rap music and feel it is about them, because it is. That's why you have an Eminem and a Bubba Sparxxx and rappers like that. — Russell Simmons

A large portion of American citizens, especially people of color, have lost confidence in our criminal justice system. Many have called for appointing special prosecutors when a police officer kills or injures a civilian. If you were elected president, would you publicly support special prosecutors in these cases and what is one other thing you would do to fix our broken justice system? — Russell Simmons

There is a subject - there is a research that says a man thinks about sex every 12 seconds. And so when an artist expresses something that's sexual in music it is a reflection of our reality. If we want that reality changed, then we have to do things that affect the core. — Russell Simmons

Whatever you chase will run away from you. So, stop chasing success and realize you already have it all. — Russell Simmons

People are murdering each other without any recourse ... So we need to get in our communities and work from the inside out. — Russell Simmons

You don't expect a 94-year-old white guy to pick "Dope," which was an awesome movie not even close to being considered by the Academy. And that's what it's all about, like, promoting people who might not otherwise get promoted and celebrating people who might not get celebrated. — Russell Simmons

I always say neediness is the cause of suffering. I'm not the only one who says it. It's something I adopted and I believe. — Russell Simmons

I don't eat any animals or anything that has to do with animals. No fish or egg or dairy because I personally don't feel it's a good practice to eat anything that might run away from you. — Russell Simmons

When you do good by the world, the world will do good by you — Russell Simmons

People are afraid of failure - they don't like to work so hard and have people keep saying, 'No.' I think that's what people fear most. — Russell Simmons

My little girls are the most beautiful women in the world. I am a lucky, lucky man. I will spend every day making sure that they know this. — Russell Simmons

Get your hustle on ... Hard work is easy, working out is hard. — Russell Simmons

Antisemitism is just another form of racism. It's the same sickness, whether it's about Christians, about Islamophobia, which is horrible. It's all wrong. It's all the same. — Russell Simmons

The word mantra comes from two Sanskrit words man, ("to think") and tra ("tool'). So the literal translation is "a tool of thought." And that's how mantras are used in Buddhist and Hindu practices, as tools that clear your mind of distractions. Because when you focus on repeating that mantra over and over again, soon the noise will die down and all you will hear is your inner voice. — Russell Simmons

If it feels like your life has become a nasty, brackish puddle of water, never forget that you do possess the power to transform it into a beautiful, rushing stream that will carry you to enlightenment. — Russell Simmons

I don't use my brain about the creative thing. From a business standpoint, I instinctively do things: when I get something right, it's never because I use my brain. — Russell Simmons

The book 'Do You!' is about your inner voice. And when you connect to that voice then you - then the freedom comes. And we're only here to be happy. So happy makes money. Money doesn't make happy. — Russell Simmons

I run a bunch of charities and I say this line to people: 'I am somebody who has always been helped.' A little thing like that can make people believe it. — Russell Simmons

Being materialistic is part of the hip-hop community's nature, because jazz and blues and rock 'n' roll, when they started out in the urban communities, were about the American Dream, and the lack of opportunity in that structure. So they talked about everything - uplifting and getting what is perceived as success in America. — Russell Simmons

Cruelty is cruelty, whether it's cruelty to children, to the elderly, to dogs and cats, or to chickens. — Russell Simmons

I used to think anxiety and insomnia drove me to success, but it was the stillness that let me be good at anything. When you extend the seconds of stillness, that's when you're able to think and learn. — Russell Simmons

In my heart, I know that marriage equality for every human being isn't a question of if, but only a matter of when. I ask those who feel that giving freedom to others somehow binds you, to please take a good look at what you are standing behind — Russell Simmons

Every day set the simple goal of trying to be more awake and less distracted. — Russell Simmons

What holds most people back isn't the quality of their ideas, but their lack of faith in themselves. — Russell Simmons

Music is the noise that surrounds the stillness of the art form. — Russell Simmons

The most aggressive views governing this country speak a lot about inclusion. We still have some people in this country who don't really get that we all have the same agenda, aspirations, hopes, and fears. I want people to be free and to be able to express themselves, to find the best ways to say things so that people can digest them. — Russell Simmons

Hip-hop is such a wide statement of culture that everyone is not the same, and it's impossible to put it into one box. — Russell Simmons

Gangsta rappers, they call them. Not nearly as gangsta as the things that inspire them.. you know, a gangsta government that we operate under. — Russell Simmons

Reacting to the world with a smile instead of a curse, a wave instead of the middle finger, will actually help you live longer. — Russell Simmons

The conditions of suffering that exist today in our impoverished communities are not acceptable. The reflection of those conditions are less concerning to me. And I work everyday about changing the conditions. — Russell Simmons

Only do shit you believe in! — Russell Simmons

Every time I go into a new venture, I find a "rabbi" who has the business acumen to help me understand the mechanics of that industry, the costs involved in developing a product, and what you need to do in order to make a profit. — Russell Simmons

Many of my biggest business endeavors were failures before they became a success. Some failed for as long as six years before they hit. Everyone around me thought I was crazy. You just have to stay at it. — Russell Simmons

You have to live your life as if you are already where you want to be. — Russell Simmons

I know a lot of angry liberals right now. Hell, I know a lot of angry vegans. — Russell Simmons

It's all about the work. Nothing is going to fall into your lap. — Russell Simmons

The world belongs to the people who say, 'I can'. — Russell Simmons

Poverty and lack of knowledge must be challenged. — Russell Simmons

I don't spend any time thinking about my place in history, ever. If people say I changed things, it's nice, and I take it - but if I could give it to a charity it would be useful. I really believe now that my only job in life is to achieve a state of comfort and happiness. — Russell Simmons

You'll see a lot of funny stuff, you'll see a lot of daddy-knows-best stuff, you'll see a lot of me and my wife trying to hold the family together. — Russell Simmons

I want to fight poverty and ignorance and give opportunity to those people who are locked out. — Russell Simmons

In my experience, there's only one thing that will always steer you toward success: That's to have a vision and to stick with it ... Once I have a vision for a new venture, I'm going to ride that vision until the wheels come off. — Russell Simmons

Meditation can reintroduce you to the part that's been missing. — Russell Simmons

Give what you want to receive. If you want happiness, make others happy. — Russell Simmons

The stuff I do, I do every day, and I've been doing it for long periods of time. I don't start and quit-ever. I start and stay on it. — Russell Simmons

We meditate so we can see miracles unfolding. Without stillness life is a blur. — Russell Simmons

Art is a way to express yourself and through that you can escape a bad situation. — Russell Simmons

Well, it's the last step of the civil rights movement: You know, wrap your hands around some money, right? — Russell Simmons

The best defense for any group of people is what we do to defend other people. — Russell Simmons

You know, I love all kinds of activism. I certainly think blacks deserve to have something whether it is affirmative action or an opportunity that should be opened up to them. But at the same time I believe that people of color are not the only poor people in America and all over the world. — Russell Simmons

I don't eat anything that runs away from me. — Russell Simmons

I knew it was unrealistic to think I could build an institution overnight. But if I took baby steps, eventually it would happen. — Russell Simmons

The imagination is how things get done. You have to cultivate creativity. — Russell Simmons

If you want to say something profound, writing from your heartbeat is different than writing from the loud voices you get from music. If they're rapping from noise, it's about robbing people. It's that simple. — Russell Simmons

I've been thinking a lot about gay marriage. I'm a big supporter. — Russell Simmons

Mistakes only cost you when you don't acknowledge them. — Russell Simmons

I'm born into the cycle of giving that we're all born into, and I recognize it. So just because something is a good business, I'm not a business guy. I'm a creative guy. — Russell Simmons

I'm a creative guy. And I only do businesses as a result of like I've - I'm try to find what my gifts are and give them immediately. As soon as I get them and I understand, I give them back. — Russell Simmons

There is no religious or any kind of a gender that should separate you from any religious ideas. — Russell Simmons

The poets who do this are uniquely conscious of this silence, this stillness. — Russell Simmons

Learn to let your thoughts exist on their own without getting too involved in them. — Russell Simmons

Don't ruin a good today by thinking of a bad yesterday, Let it go! — Russell Simmons

Needing nothing really is the ultimate goal. And to have nothing to do with things. — Russell Simmons

When I started the diamond business, no black person, period, was in it to do what we're trying to do to change the industry. So I like to do things that I see clearly that are in my, you know, scope. And then, I had to figure how I get talented or smart business people around me to execute. That's what I have to do. — Russell Simmons

I mostly eat healthy. I just do. I'm not a vegan for health reasons - although obviously I'm 20 pounds lighter than when I started. I stayed 20 pounds lighter. I feel better. My friends say I look better. All that's true. But I'm a vegan for compassionate reasons. — Russell Simmons

Those who need nothing attract everything. — Russell Simmons

There are songs and melody that make you really happy. And there are spiritual gifts that you have - giving these gifts away sometimes gives you that feeling of inspiration. These seconds of awareness make you realize that any second can be your favorite one, and it really is up to you. — Russell Simmons

It is only through opening your hearts will you be able to see that by promoting freedom for all, you are unchaining yourself. I guess I'm an optimist. I have faith in people and our government ultimately to do the right thing. And to my brothers and sisters in California, I'm there with you every step of the way until that day comes. — Russell Simmons

Most people believe that results matter. The idea that results matter is one that you have to keep letting go of. And most of the time, I believe it. — Russell Simmons

I mean people are sexist and racist and homophobic and violent. But I don't think of the rappers as being any more sexist or racist or homophobic than their parents. Certainly less, in all those cases, less homophobic or racist or sexist, and then less gangster than our government. It's stuff that people normally don't speak on, subjects they don't speak on, and ideas they kind of keep to themselves. — Russell Simmons

I feel the choices our president Barack Obama is making now are safer and better. — Russell Simmons

Don't worry what others are doing. Do you! — Russell Simmons

The seconds of presence are where most inspiration comes. There are sunsets that promote it. — Russell Simmons

There was a moment when I was watching Martin Lawrence and Will Smith in 'Badboys' that I felt, you know, inspired. I don't know if I was proud, because so many people do the work. Everyone's part of a team that develops over the years and gives people chances. There have been some good moments watching people develop. — Russell Simmons

No matter where you want to go, as long as you follow your path with faith, dedication and hard work, you are going to get there. — Russell Simmons

You cannot find it anywhere, because it is located inside you ... happiness is your natural state. — Russell Simmons

It's important to focus on what we do best and master one craft at a time. — Russell Simmons

I had too many businesses that are frivolous. I have enough. What interests me most is under-served communities. We need a new style of empowering these people, and new approaches. — Russell Simmons

When you give without reservation, you'll become a magnet that pulls the world toward you. — Russell Simmons

I am very pleased to be involved with the Daniel Pearl Music Days committee because its message resonates with me on a very personal level, My own career is an example of the universal power of music, especially the power of Hip Hop, to bring people of different backgrounds together for a common purpose. I hope that my commitment to the Daniel Pearl Music Days committee will encourage all music lovers - both amateurs and professionals - to get involved with the Music Days performance network and contribute to the 'Harmony For Humanity' e-Stage. — Russell Simmons

A person's strength is to know their weaknesses. — Russell Simmons

Hip-hop is about tearing down the system to better it, tearing down the system to better themselves. No matter how flimsy it might seem, they always wanted the finer things in life. — Russell Simmons

As I get, I give. Giving as you get is critical. It has everything to do with being happy for yourself, and making others happy is the cause of making yourself happy, and it's the cycle of giving and getting. — Russell Simmons

If you are a good giver, you will be great getter. The less you need, the more you attract. — Russell Simmons

I think people instinctively know that their job is to give service and that they are part of a community. It had a great impact on me when my father walked the picket lines and I walked with him during the civil rights movement. — Russell Simmons

Embrace struggle ... It is your greatest teacher. — Russell Simmons

There are no failures, only quitters — Russell Simmons

Nowhere in the Bible, Koran, or Torah does it say, "If you curse, then you're going to hell." But everywhere it says that if you kill, you're going to wherever they send you, depending on the religion. — Russell Simmons