Tupac's Quotes & Sayings

I'm 100 percent original, and that's what got me here. My rap music is more understandable, slower. It tells a story. You can write a book on each of my thoughts. — Tupac Shakur

Now up and atom it's on, I was raised to be strong, and mama told me be a thug since the day I was born. The fame was a plot to try a change me, and what's strange is nobody knew my name. — Tupac Shakur

It's like if you plant something in the concrete and if it grow and the rose petal got all kinda scratches and marks, you ain't gonna say "damn, look at all the scratches and marks on the rose that grew from the concrete.." you gonna be like "DAMN! a ROSE grew from the CONCRETE? — Tupac Shakur

Evil's lurking, I can see him smirking. — Tupac Shakur

Gotta start teaching the children that they can be just what they want to be, there's much more to life than poverty. — Tupac Shakur

The ground is the symbol for the poor people; the poor people is gonna open up this whole world and swallow up the rich people. It's gonna be like - there might be some cannibalism out this mother. They might eat the rich. — Tupac Shakur

I didn't get that power from gunz..coz there's no gunz in jail..I got that power from books and from thinking and strategizing ... That's what I want little niggaz to see. — Tupac Shakur

They say it's the white man I should fear, But it's my own kind doin' all the killin' here. — Tupac Shakur

I didn't introduce thug life to America. Thug life is America. I don't get why the whole world is fearing me. I am scared, but so are they. It's like I am having a panic attack cause I have 15,000 people wanting to do what I want, listing to everything I say. — Tupac Shakur

Can you imagine what it's like for you to be who I am, who I was, and for them to say that I raped a woman? And for the whole world to actually be entertaining the thought that you raped a woman. That's hell. — Tupac Shakur

I'm not really interested in anybody, that's why I started rapping. I'm still a fan of Tupac. That's the only rapper that I'm still like, "Oh! Tupac!" — Spencer Pratt

One day, I'll be listening to a bunch of Ray Charles, the next day it's nothing but Red Hot Chili Peppers. The next day it might be Tupac all day. — J. Cole

My music is not for everyone. It's only for the stong-willed, the [street] soldiers music. It's not like party music- I mean, you could gig to it, but it's spiritual. My musi is spiritual. It's like Negro spiituals, except for the fact that I'm not saying 'We shall Overcome.' I'm saying that we are overcome. — Tupac Shakur

Though are hands are chained like they are, they haven't taken music from us yet. So that's how I'll fight. People tell me don't quit like everyone else. I wont have no fear. — Tupac Shakur

I was raised in the city, shitty
Ever since I was an itty bitty kitty
Drinkin' liquor out my momma's titty
And smokin' weed was an everyday thang in my household,
And drinking liquor til' you out cold — Tupac Shakur

Life's a test, mistakes are lessons, but the gift of life is knowing that you have made a difference. — Tupac Shakur

I'm 23 years old. I might just be my mother's child, but in all reality, I'm everybody's child. Nobody raised me; I was raised in this society. — Tupac Shakur

If Colin Powell was president, I'd follow him. I wanna get into politics. That's the way for us to overcome a lot of our obstacles. — Tupac Shakur

When I say ' thug' I mean not a criminal, someone who beats you over the head, I mean the underdog. You could have two people- one person has everything he needs to succeed and one person has nothing. If the person who has nothing succeeds, he's a thug. Cuz he overcame all the obstacles. — Tupac Shakur

There's nobody in the business strong enough to scare me. — Tupac Shakur

I feel that what was done in the dark will come to light. There are secrets everybody's gonna find out about. — Tupac Shakur

In the world that came after this one, I was sure she had a grin on her face while she hung out with Tupac and Nemo's mom. — Brittainy C. Cherry

Nobody should be hitting lotto for 36 million dollars when we got people starving in the streets. That is not idealistic, that's just real. That is just stupid. There's no way Michael Jackson, or whoever should have thousands, millions, billions of dollars and we got people broke with two-three jobs and still can't pay bills on time. There's no way! No way these people should have planes when people don't have houses, apartments, shacks, drawers, pants!!! — Tupac Shakur

My mother was a woman. A black woman. A single mother. Raising two kids on her own. So she was dark skinned. Had short hair. Got no love from nobody except for a group called the Black Panthers. So that's why she was a Black Panther. — Tupac Shakur

The seed must grow regardless Of the fact that it's planted in stone — Tupac Shakur

If that's what the court can do, then punish me more then I've been punished already. — Tupac Shakur

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's laws wrong, it learned to walk without having feet. Funny, it seems to by keeping it's dreams; it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared. — Tupac Shakur

Ever since I was an itty bitty kitty, been drinking liquor out of Mama's titty. — Tupac Shakur

We ain't meant to survive, cause it's a setup, And even though you're fed up, Huh, ya got to keep your head up. — Tupac Shakur

Yellow M&M's don't move with green M&M's. I mean, you don't put M&M's peanuts with M&M's plain. — Tupac Shakur

Why isn't it hip-hop when I do it? Everybody else can have beef within the music, talk about differences and it's ok. It's music, it's hip-hop, it's ground breaking. When I do it, it's war. — Tupac Shakur

There's a great documentary on Tupac called 'Resurrection' about the last few years of Tupac's life and how he transformed. And, ironically, how this East Coast rapper became this West Coast icon, back when all that Death Row/Sean Combs stuff was going on. — Marco Rubio

I speak my mind. That's what we loved Tupac for. — Wale

Perspective. You start looking at things differently, like everything's not so important. You don't take things so personally. Everyone changes, becomes better people. We all should get that chance ... — Tupac Shakur

How many caskets can we witness before we see it's hard to live this life without God, so we must ask forgiveness. — Tupac Shakur

Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live, and let's change the way we treat each other. — Tupac Shakur

Don't look back unless it's a good view. — Tupac Shakur

It's no longer a fad to be down for the young Black male. Everybody wants to go past. Like the gangster stuff, it just got exploited. — Tupac Shakur

And everyday I read the paper, there's another lie. They show my picture for the crimes of another guy. — Tupac Shakur

I would rather have been shot straight-up in cold blood-but to be set up? By people who you trusted? That's bad. — Tupac Shakur

Suge is the boss of Death Row, the don, you understand? But im the underboss, the capo. That's my job to what's best for Death Row — Tupac Shakur

Yo get a real job. Rappin doesn't pay the rent, I hate the studio cause that's where all my money went. — Tupac Shakur

When the charge first came up, I hated black women. Then, going to trial, I started seeing the black women that was helping me. It's mostly black female guards. They treat me with human respect. — Tupac Shakur

It's the game of life. Do I win or do I lose? One day they're gonna shut the game down. I gotta have as much fun and go around the board as many times as I can before it's my turn to leave. — Tupac Shakur

Of course I'm going to say "I'm a thug" that's because I came from the GUTTER and I'm still HERE! — Tupac Shakur

Our unborn never got to grow, never got to see what's, next, In this world full of countless threats. — Tupac Shakur

It's a struggle for every young Black man. You know how it is, only God can judge us. — Tupac Shakur

That's what I am, America's nightmare. I am what you made me, the hate and evil that you gave me. — Tupac Shakur

We are weak, please let us in. We're week, please let us in." After about a week tha song is gonna change to, "We're hungry, we need some food." After two, three weeks it's like "Give me some of tha food! I'm breakin down tha door." After a year it's like, "I'm pickin' the lock, comin' through the door blastin." It's like, "I'm hungry. — Tupac Shakur

If you can make it through the night, there's a brighter day. — Tupac Shakur

Everyday there's more death, and plus I'm doughless. I'm seeing more reasons for me to proceed with thieving. — Tupac Shakur

I'm not saying I'm going to rule the world, I'm going to change the world. But I guarantee I will spark the brain that will change the world. And that's our job. It's to spark somebody else watching us. We might not be the one, but let's not be selfish. And because we['re] not going to change the world, not talk about how we should change it. I don't know how to change it. But I know if I keep talking about how dirty it is out here, somebody's going to clean it up! — Tupac Shakur

My cellmate's raped on the norm, and passed around the dorm, you can hear his asshole getting torn. — Tupac Shakur

Dear Mama, don't cry, your baby boy's doin' good,
Tell the homies I'm in heaven, and they ain't got hoods.
Seen a show with Marvin Gaye last night, it had me shook,
Drippin' peppermint Schnapps, with Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke ... — Tupac Shakur

I believe that everything that you do bad comes back to you. So everything that I do that's bad, I'm going to suffer from it. But in my mind, I believe what I'm doing is right. So I feel like I'm going to heaven — Tupac Shakur

Never surrender, it's all about the faith you got: don't ever stop, just push it 'till you hit the top and if you drop, at least you know you gave your all to be true to you, that way you can never fall — Tupac Shakur

Born through hard times, Ghetto child of mine. I wonder if you have to suffer for your father's crimes. — Tupac Shakur

The only thing that can kill me is death, that's the only thing that can ever stop me, is death, and even then my music will live forever. — Tupac Shakur

Cry later, but for now, let's enjoy the laughter. — Tupac Shakur

Dre was one of my heros in the music industry. If he's not down for his homeboys, I don't wanna be a part of him or around him. — Tupac Shakur

Foreign languages, I think they are important but I don't think it should be required because-actually I think they should be teaching you English and then teaching you how to understand double talk-a politician's double talk-not teaching you how to understand French and Spanish and German, when am I going to Germany? I can't even afford to pay my rent in America, how am I going to Germany? — Tupac Shakur

Look at those words, 'role' and 'model.' Both of those are fake words, to play a role and to model, that's fake. I'm real. Being real, I drink, I hang out, I party — Tupac Shakur

You have to work from one point to go to another. So I admire work ethic, I think it should be reinforced through our neighborhoods, that everybody should work hard, practice makes perfect, you have to be diligent with what you want, you have to apply yourself, you have to motivate your self. You have to do for self by yourself, and then you can do things for other people. That's what I had to do, I had to do for self.. — Tupac Shakur

Hate to sound sleazy, but tease me, I don't want it if it's that easy — Tupac Shakur

Though things change, the future's still inside of me. — Tupac Shakur

I believe in God. Whatever supposed to happen supposed to happen. But I can not live in a jail cell. That's why I don't rob people and stick up people. — Tupac Shakur

I can't give up. It's a rap thang. And I ain't goin back to the crack game. — Tupac Shakur

Gangsta Rap is dead. I've moved on. And the raps that I'm rappin to my community shouldn't be filled with rage? They shouldn't be filled with same attrocities that they gave me? The media they don't talk about it, so in my raps I have to talk about it, and it seems foreign because there's no one else talking about it. — Tupac Shakur

It's time we stop worrying, and get angry you know? But not angry and pick up a gun, but angry and open our minds. — Tupac Shakur

As I got older, I really got into Tupac's poetry, his books and just learning about his life and what he was into. — Jhene Aiko

I hate the hype. When 50 Cent came out, people were saying that he was the best rapper alive: "Oh, he got shot nine times, he's better than Tupac, he's better than Biggie." That was all hype. — ASAP Rocky

It's hard to care when no one loves you. — Tupac Shakur

Through every dark night, there's a bright day after that. — Tupac Shakur

If you're not dark inside and you come to this world, it'l turn you dark ... and if you really have Sunshine inside you, it's not good to play in the dark. It's just gonna extinguish your fire. — Tupac Shakur

Life's a wheel of fortune and it's my chance to spin it. — Tupac Shakur

I feel close to Marvin Gaye, Vincent van Gogh, because nobody appreciated his work until he was dead. Now it's worth millions. — Tupac Shakur

It's just me against the world. — Tupac Shakur

I'm tryin to make a dollar out of fifteen cents
It's hard to be legit and still pay tha rent — Tupac Shakur

I know it seems hard sometimes but remember one thing. Through every dark night, there's a bright day after that. So no matter how hard it get, stick your chest out, keep ya head up ... and handle it. — Tupac Shakur

My mother taught me three things: respect, knowledge, search for knowledge. It's an eternal journey. — Tupac Shakur

Bury me smilin' with G's in my pocket, Have a party at my funeral let every rapper rock it Let the hoes that I used to know, from way before Kiss me from my head to my toe, Gimme a paper and pen so I can write about my life of sin, Couple bottles of gin, in case I don't get in ... — Tupac Shakur

Everybody's at war with different things ... I'm at war with my own heart sometimes. — Tupac Shakur

I don't understand how people can
stand next to you one year,and next year, they cannot. They're going crazy, screaming. They can't take it that you're there. But last year I was in the same club,walking around,lonely like a motherfucker. Couldn't get a date or a dance. I was too skinny, too something,
and now, He's just adorable. He's just, oh! — Tupac Shakur

Here's a message to the new borns, waiting to breathe: if you believe then you can achieve. Just look at me, against all odds 'though life is hard, we carry on, livin' in the projects, broke with no lights on. To all the seeds that follow me- protect your essence, born with less, but you still precious. — Tupac Shakur

I remember crying all the time. My major thing growing up was I couldn't fit in. Because I was from everywhere, I didn't have no buddies that I grew up with ... Every time I had to go to a new apartment, I had to reinvent myself, myself. People think just because you born in the ghetto you gonna fit in. A little twist in your life and you don't fit in no matter what. If they push you out of the hood and the White people's world, that's criminal ... Hell, I felt like my could be destroyed at any moment. — Tupac Shakur

We talk a lot about Malcom X and Martin Luther King JR, but it's time to be like them, as strong as them. They were mortal men like us and everyone of us can be like them. I don't want to be a role model. I just want to be someone who says, this is who I am, this is what I do. I say what's on my mind. — Tupac Shakur

So much pressure in this life of mine, I cry at times, I once contemplated suicide and woulda tried, but when I held that nine, all I could see was my mama's eyes, no one knows my struggle, they only see the trouble, not knowing it's hard to carry on when no one loves you. — Tupac Shakur

I'd love to go back to when we played as kids, but things change. And that's the way it is. — Tupac Shakur

I set goals, take control, drink out my own bottle, I make mistakes but learn from every one, And when it's said and done, I bet this brother be a better one, If I upset you don't stress, Never forget, that God isn't finished with me yet — Tupac Shakur

I have a lot of friends who are in love the '90s. Girls, boys. '90s music? That's Tupac. That's Biggie. That's TLC. That's Aaliyah. I still listen to Aaliyah. I still listen to Tupac and Biggie. There's people who are really heavy on that culture. — Shameik Moore

Now the baby's in the trash heap balling. — Tupac Shakur

The bodyguard's description of the shooting added a detail Poole had never heard before: That white Cadillac didn't just pull up "alongside" the car Tupac and Suge were riding in, Alexander said, but was actually a little bit ahead of the BMW when the killer opened fire, allowing him to shoot at an angle that made it possible to avoid hitting Suge with a stray bullet. — Randall Sullivan

There's a machine that I have nothing to do with. It's called the "Tupac Machine." — Tupac Shakur

In USA, a black man only have like five years we can exhibit maximum strength, and that's right now while you a teenager, while you still strong, while you still wanna lift weights, while you still wanna shoot back. 'Cause once you turn 30, it's like they take the heart and soul out of a man, out of a black man, in this country. And you don't wanna fight no more. — Tupac Shakur

A lot of people say I tried to emulate Tupac, but when I look back at my career, we're very different artists. I took pages out of Pac's book, of course, and lots of other rappers - Biggie, Nas - of course you take pages out of those books, but you eventually make it your own thing. And I think I did a good job of that. — Ja Rule

Throw it up y'all, throw it up, Throw it up, Let's show these fools how we do this on that west side. Cause you and I know it's tha best side. — Tupac Shakur

Love IS the People's Power — Tupac Shakur

We look at death from the selfish side, like: "That guy died. Oh, it's so sad." Why is it sad? He's away from all of this bad stuff that's here on Earth. I mean, at the worst, he's just somewhere quiet, no nothing. At best, he's an angel ... or he's a spirit somewhere. What is so bad about that? — Tupac Shakur

I'm not saying I'm gonna rule the world or I'm gonna change the world, but I guarantee you that I will spark the brain that will change the world. And that's our job, It's to spark somebody else watching us. We might not be the one's, but let's not be selfish and because we not gonna change the world let's not talk about how we should change it. I don't know how to change it, but I know if I keep talking about how dirty it is out here, somebody's gonna clean it up. — Tupac Shakur

With all this extra stressin
The question I wonder is after death, after my last breath
When will I finaly get to rest? Through this supression
they punish the people that's askin questions
And those that possess, steal from the ones without possesions
The message I stress: to make it stop study your lessons
Don't settle for less - even the genius asks-es questions
Be grateful for blessings
Don't ever change, keep your essence
The power is in the people and politics we address. — Tupac Shakur