Quotes from 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.

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.

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.

I love riding, even if it's just my Vespa. You just zip and do your thing. I find there's a different awareness when I ride; it connects me to my senses and to God.

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.

I wish every woman would love herself and embrace what she was given naturally.

I am used to being on tours with people who are fantastic performers and I respect them and I love their music. But the bottom line is they got the vision for what we are trying to do.

When I was growing up, there were so many musicals you could watch. I like the fantasy of musicals and I love music.

Bowling, I like bowling. I've been getting into this bowling thing. It's kinda fun.

Be bold, be brave enough to be your true self.

I feel like I've set the example for loving your body no matter what size it is, but I also can set the example for being healthy as well.

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.

I think I'd be a great mom, honestly. I don't think I'll have any problem giving them all the love in the world. Discipline will be the hard part.

If we focus on our health, including our inner health, our self-esteem, and how we look at ourselves and our confidence level, we'll tend to be healthier people anyway, we'll tend to make better choices for our lives, for our bodies, we'll always be trying to learn more, and get better as time goes on.

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.

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.

There are still some places I'd love to visit - Africa, China, Brazil, India. I want to travel the world and experience other cultures and peoples.

The females don't respect themselves; they only think materialistically. They want money, but they don't think, I'm gonna get this money on my own, they think, I'm gonna get money from this guy.

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.

My mother wouldn't allow me to speak slang when I was growing up. But when I got outside, around my friends, it was 'Yo' and 'That's the joint' and 'Yo, what's up?' So I had my game for my friends and my game for my mom.

I've never wanted to be put into a box, not musically.

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.

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

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.