Quotes About Roots

I was rapping in 1939. It's old. The roots are complex. And kids don't know.

I'm not Hollywood. I'm a Quarter Rat. I belong here.

Theater was definitely part of my roots. My father would take me to plays, and then my mother was always on the lookout for other talent and taking me to see plays. I saw Frank Langella in 'Dracula'... Great, great performances. I was a theater rat, hanging out backstage.

I would say, for me, flamenco is so pure, so raw. I love pop culture but sometimes I miss the root, the rawness.

I am connected to the past in a way that keeps me going forward. Every leap forward that I make is by reaching back and firmly getting a footing in the past, and pushing forward as hard as I can.

Being Irish-American myself, Irish-American material is readily at hand to me.

The value of real estate to a city is huge. A community that is invested in making deep roots in an area creates a commitment to making their city the best it can be. It becomes a common bond.

My real friends are definitely the people I grew up with - the people who don't care about my music career at all.

When I got to Nashville, people started asking me about how I got into country music. I'd tell them I came from a place where people wore cowboy hats for a real reason.

I'm from New Orleans, and I have a French last name - although I have no real relationship with my last name because it's not my name. I don't know my name.

To have real success and roots in a society, there has to be a local champion, and hence we believe in identifying a local entrepreneur.

There's a line that runs between everyone and their ancestors, and you cannot sever that. Maybe disassociate from those ideas but not how you are connected to them. But, you can realise how you've benefited and change how you raise your kids.

When you come from a place and an identity, you can feel constricted and have to get away. But then you realise how much a part of you it is.

I always felt that I wasn't as American as Americans and then I realised when I got back to the Philippines that I was not Filipino.

I was around a lot of gospel as a kid.

Certainly, gospel was my background - is my background.

I actually grew up singing bluegrass gospel.

I was always drawn to gospel music and the roots of African-American music. It's the foundation of rock and roll.

I grew up on a lot of gospel music.

When I was little I was into gospel music.

I have a U.P. connection as my mother had graduated from the Aligarh Muslim University.

My grandfather is from Peshawar; he was born there.

I go back to Africa every year. I have a home there. You know, my grandfather lives back there in Cameroon.

I was Everett LeRoi Jones. My grandfather's name was Everett.