Quotes About Authenticity

In the world, there are countless Sadhus, Mahatmas, Mahapurushas, Saints, Yogis, and Walis, though the number of genuine ones is very, very limited. I am neither a Mahatma nor a Mahapurush, neither a Sadhu nor a Saint, neither a Yogi nor a Wali. I am the ancient One. The Highest of the High!

I've got a drought-tolerant garden; I've got a company - crazy as it sounds, we make yogurt. There are actors who have to act no matter what, but I don't want to do it just for the sake of doing it.

Southern political personalities, like sweet corn, travel badly. They lose flavor with every hundred yards away from the patch. By the time they reach New York, they are like Golden Bantam that has been trucked up from Texas - stale and unprofitable. The consumer forgets that the corn tastes different where it grows.

If anybody starts using me as scenery, I'll return to New York.

I remember, in my first show in New York, they asked, 'Where is the Indian-ness in your work?'... Now, the same people, after having watched the body of my work, say, 'There is too much Indian philosophy in your work.' They're looking for a superficial skin-level Indian-ness, which I'm not about.

When we started on 'Power,' I was committed to respecting the differences among Spanish dialects: Dominican, Nuyorican, Mexican, etc. I wanted the language our characters spoke to be as specific as possible, to reflect New York as it is.

Arca was a project born immediately after I came out of the closet in New York.

New York was at the forefront of rap, so because of all the great people who have gone before me, being a rapper from Queens, I have to live up to those standards. I'm basically just a regular guy who says what he feels and likes to joke. I like long walks on the beach... and I love rap.

I'm not so Hollywood; I live in New York, so it's very normal. I don't have many friends in the industry. My friends come from all sorts of different backgrounds and careers.

I'm very friendly or whatever, but I would hardly say that I'm that cookie-cutter. I don't live in L.A. or New York. I live in Texas, and I go to hole-in-the-wall bars, so there's no paparazzi there.

As an old-time New Yorker, it's not that I miss the '70s and '80s or whatever. I miss the fact that there was a certain kind of energy that exists when people can live for nothing.

I knew I didn't want to come out in the 'New Yorker'; it just felt wrong. It needed an African conversation.

I listen to my early Gang Starr interviews, I'm like, damn I was really trying to sound like a New Yorker then.

I'm a New Yorker, I say what's on my mind, because not being that way, what's the point of that? People may think this is hype, but you look back before at my other fights and you see that I don't talk trash.

To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.

Who you are speaks so loudly I can't hear what you're saying.

I'm not a stereotypically beautiful woman, and I'm so happy that I'm not. I've seen those ladies - the need to be attractive at all times is ghastly. Also, in your twenties, if you are beautiful, everything comes to you, so you never need to develop a personality. I never had that problem.

Society sets us up to be everything but ourselves, but I want to take a moment and say to people, love yourself. Find your purpose. You are unique, and that makes you great. I pursued my dreams. You can do it, too.

I don't think you should do something just to prove to an audience that you can do it, that's way out of your wheelhouse.

You have to be you. You can't be anybody else. If you speak loudly, and people tell you to speak quietly, you can do it for a little bit, but loud people are loud, and people who are not, are not.

There aren't any rules, as far as anything-and that applies especially to writing songs, whatever gets the point across. So you're just kind of brought up to feel-in any field, if you say you can do it, do it. There it is.

Cooking is in an honest profession where you cannot hide and let others do the work for you. You have to show up, work hard and prove you can do it faster and better. And find a mentor who will recognize your talent and push you in the right direction.

I'm trying to show people that I'm a person, and I deal with the same things as you guys, and I'm trying to make the best of it.

I have wrinkles which are very evident. I will particularly say when I look at movie posters, 'You guys have airbrushed my forehead. Please, can you change it back?'