Quotes from Jill Scott

You owe it to yourself to live beautifully. And I am.

I'm going to be a strict mum. I know that love is the most important thing - you've got to have lots of kisses and cuddles - but you also need to mix it with discipline or you'll be in a heap of trouble.

'True Blood' excites me. It scares me, but it excites me.

I'm not interested in being commodified. I'm not into being sold. I'm not a slave.

There's something really magical about having a child - it's like permission to begin again, start over, reevaluate some things, check yourself. Recognize yourself.

There's something really magical about having a child - it's like permission to begin again, start over, reevaluate some things, check yourself. Recognize yourself. And that's kind of what happened with me - I realized, in a few places, I was going down the wrong path.

I chose 'No. 1 Ladies' Detective,' or I'll say it chose me, and it was an absolute blessing, for the experience of being in Africa for seven months and learning so many different things, from languages to foods to greetings. On so many levels, it was an incredible experience.

I think, as an artist, you have to have experienced some deep turmoil, some kind of pain, because that's what connects you with the world. That's what makes it juicy!

I'm excited about turning 40. I've been an adult for a long time, but there is a difference between being an adult and being a grown-up. I'm someone's mummy now and I'm enjoying that. I feel as if I'm about to hit my peak.

Africa the continent is not just what we see on the news. It's... not AIDS, and it's not just war and poverty. It's so much more. It's an abundant continent, and Botswana is an abundant place.

I was reading poetry to my girlfriends, and they were like, 'You're really good. You should go to some poetry readings or something.' And I eventually went and got a, you know, somewhat of a name for myself and a little bit of a following.

It excites me when a person puts their whole self in a song or rhyme, or instrument. It fills me.

I'm sorry that 'Fringe' is gone. I really wanted to do more on that show. It was great!

I've always been a firm believer that soul music never dies. The artists we still listen to today, years after their music was first heard are mostly soul artists; Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan. We still sing along to all of them with our hearts.

The artists who stand out to me have a passion for what they do. There are a lot of people who can sing. It's just like when you go to church and people are singing because it sounds good, not because it feels good. There's a difference.

I was conceived after doctors told my mother she'd never have children. I'm a miracle - we all are.

A nutritionist has told me to have very little butter and very little spices, but I can't live like that.

I think all any artist or person wants to do is grow spiritually, emotionally, professionally and mentally.

People is, I think, it's their nature - some people's nature, in a way, to be angry or jealous or just spiteful about somebody else's blessings.

I like a man who smells good. Puts on cologne; lotions his body. It keeps me wanting. I like feeling that way.

There are black marriages that are still going strong 40 years later. You hear so many myths that there aren't any people making it, but there are. As long as there are some, there's hope.

All man-made religions are limited. I go my own way.

Seriously, in America there are more big, curvy girls than there are little girls, and men love us, too.

I need to find creative diversity because if I get stuck, I get unhappy.