Quotes from Mary J. Blige

Sometimes I frown and I don't realise it.

I can see the music. I know what it looks like. I know what color it is. The words come easy, the tears come easy, and the joy comes easy. The music tells you what to do.

When you know what pain is, and when you have to make a choice, you learn that it is a decision. People think it's a fairytale thing, love and happiness, but you have to work hard. And then - you feel it deeply.

I barely have time for my own children. To adopt more children and not have time for them, that would be poor parenting on my part.

I hated myself for so many reasons, and I thought so many things were my fault that happened to me growing up.

When I was a child I didn't care about getting an education, and I didn't finish high school.

I know who I am. I am not perfect. I'm not the most beautiful woman in the world. But I'm one of them.

Don't give up, be positive and if you know someone who knows someone at a record company don't stop beating down their door till you get heard. Don't ever say it'll never happen or it'll never happen.

I care about me now. When I didn't care about me, I was, like, 'Why is this going wrong? Why is my life so bad?' But when you don't care about yourself, nobody else is going to care about you. So I learned to love myself, even if nobody else does.

I remember a time when all my fans were crying and sad and going through hell. Now, we're trying to uplift each other and accept ourselves for who we are, even if nobody else does.

By the time I was a teenager, when I went outside the house, it was about hip-hop all the time. Nothing but hip-hop, block parties.

I wouldn't adopt, but what I will do is give my time and go and try to be there for people.

God comes first - if I don't love him, I can't love anybody, and if I can't love me I can't love nobody.

You can hate me. You can go out there and say anything you want about me, But you will love me later because I told you the truth.

In your life there's peaks and valleys and sometimes we regress, and we don't even know we regress. You just have to learn how to accept all of your mistakes and learn to love yourself again.

I don't think I'll do foster care or adopt, to be quite honest.

This music business can suck all the love out of you, all the compassion for people - you can start to think you're better than them. But I want to continue to let people know that I'm no better and no worse, I'm just like you.

My main exercise is cardio. The treadmill is fine, but running outdoors gives me the best results. I try to log 6 to 8 miles a week. I could be in the worst mood, but when I do my cardio, I feel much, much better.

I'm my worst critic, and I like the fact that I can listen to myself now and make fun of myself, listen, make changes - 'Oh, man, that's messed up. Okay, I need to work on that; I need to work on this.'

I don't think there's anything they can say about me that I haven't said about myself already. And I would be an absolute total liar, and my fans would not respect me, if I said that my life and my marriage are perfect. But we absolutely love each other; we have fun together - it's great.

It's OK showing yourself some love.

I'm searching for a real love.

Love is wonderful, amazing, and the best thing that can happen to us.

Music makes us want to live. You don't know how many times people have told me that they'd been down and depressed and just wanted to die. But then a special song caught their ear and that helped give them renewed strength. That's the power music has.