Ice Cube quotes: from projects to fat checks, here’s what he’s learned.
“Keep doin’ what you’re doin,’ fall in love with what you’re creating, and everything else will fall into place.”
“If you love what you do, and you believe in your talent, there’s nothing better than breaking through. There’s no better feeling than breaking through.”
“I know that there are obstacles; I know that there are hills to climb, I know there were people before me that made my journey easier and there are people behind me that I have made the journey easier for.”
“I love any time you can enlighten people to mistakes, that’s how I started my career.”
“There’s nothing wrong with starting off in a box, but you got to have a plan to come out of that box.”
“My thing is: stay creative. And just because somebody starts to pay you, that don’t mean all your creativity goes to that, and you don’t save none for yourself to be able to do other, bigger and better things and still follow your dreams even if you start off inside of a box.”
“Sometimes you got to start somewhere. And it’s cool, as long as where you start is not where you plan on finishing.”
“Don’t worry about being a star, worry about doing good work, and all that will come to you.”
“Doing it your own way, not having to go exactly by the book to be successful.”
“When I was in N.W.A and didn’t get paid all the money I was owed, that’s when the business side of showbiz hit me. I thought, ‘Half of this is workin’. I’m famous, but now I need to be famous with some money.’ That got my brain started at trying to figure out the business end. And once I figured out the business side, I next came to understand that success really comes down to the product, not to me, my personality, or what club I’m seen going into or coming out of. None of that matters.”
“Truth is the ultimate power. When the truth comes around, all the lies have to run and hide.”
“I think, to me, reality is better than being fake. Nowadays, you can be yourself. You don’t have to put on façade. You can be who you are and still be just as successful as the ones who put on the fake façade. You know, it’s like reality is just as important as fiction.”
“You can’t pussyfoot around. When you’re talking to lions, you can’t meow like a pussycat.”
“I believe every pencil has to be sharpened every now and then to stay sharp, or you dull out.”
“I have great people, smart people that are around me and we love the challenge. I guess it’s like climbing a mountain or building a building. It’s a challenge but you love every challenge that it brings or [that] presents itself.”
“I think everybody likes a person that stands up for themselves. Nobody likes a punk or a coward.”
“If you give anybody the chance, they can always make a decent human being out of themselves.”
“I’ve been fighting my whole career to show a different side and prove naysayers – not prove them wrong, because I don’t think you should get your energy from negative people.”
“I’ve always gotten good grades, you know, with my teachers and my English teachers, ’cause I was able to – they’d say, ‘What did you do for the summer?’ I’m able to explain it to them in a written form. And my teachers always patted me on the back for that, being able to take what’s in my mind and put it on paper.”
“I think reading is important in any form. I think a person who’s trying to learn to like reading should start off reading about a topic they are interested in, or a person they are interested in.”
“The best thing to do is to write about what you know, and if you write about what you know you can always pull those nice little tidbits that hook people, that shows that you know about this world and can bring people into a world that they may not know nothing about.”
“The hardest period for a writer is the period in-between writing. That’s when you can go crazy if you don’t allow the creative juices to flow.”
“Creating is really what I like to do. The best thing in the world is to have an idea in the back of your head and then to make that idea into a movie and have people all over the world enjoy it.”
“I love music. It’s freedom, a way to deal with pent-up frustration.”
“Rap is just somebody getting something off his chest. That’s all it is.”
“Don’t get a movie confused with real life. I’m a well-rounded human being like everyone else.”
“I do what I do. You like it, great. You don’t, go listen to somebody else. I’m stickin’ with the people who stuck with me.”
“You wanna be remembered for making an impact and changing things. I guess for the good or for the bad, it don’t matter. But I guess you just wanna be remembered when it’s all said and done.”
“You don’t wanna mess up what you’ve done. It’s like Jordan coming back: you’re scared to mess up the legacy.”
“The moral is that a career can be gone in an instant. And all you have in this world are the people you love.”
“That’s always been my approach, to expose what’s going on and what’s not being said. I could go the selfish route, and probably make a whole lot more money, but that’s not what it’s about, it’s about speaking for people who can’t speak for themselves.”
“Don’t talk about death, I’ve got too much life to live, too many orders to give.”
“I think people, if you really want to be happy, you have to find God yourself, and you’re going to have to have a personal, one-on-one relationship and not look to get through these traditions or these rituals and all this crazy stuff when you could talk to him right here, right now, anytime, anywhere, any place, from any position. And that’s the kind of relationship you want, not a standard.”
“Everybody who comes from the gangster life – they want what that man in the suburbs wants. Nice family. Nice house. Nice cars. Bills paid. Kids in school. Food on the table. Nothing more. Gangsta to us didn’t have anything to do with Al Capone and stuff like that. It’s just about living your life the way you want to live it. And you’re not going to let nothing stop you.”
“I don’t get nothing but love. In every ghetto all over the world. Nothing but love. They respect that I came outta there and I’m doing it the right way. You can’t do nothing but respect that.”
“What I learned from architectural drafting is that everything has to have a plan to work. You just can’t wing it. I can’t get all the materials I need for a house and just start building. Whether it’s a career, family, life – you have to plan it out.”
“Keep everybody out your business, that’s how you do it. And I mean everybody. It ain’t about having a relationship outside of the house. It’s about having a relationship within each other. When something go down don’t be calling your sister or your mother; I’m not gonna be calling my brother or uncles. We’re gonna work it out.”
“Money is the root of all evil. Yeah, money is the root. It’s not racism and ‘this-ism’ and ‘that-ism;’ it’s our thirst and hunger for money.”
“Money comes and goes, but your inner feelings, your gut feelings, your manhood, your womanhood, whatever, that stays with you. That don’t go anywhere. So you either proud of who you are and how you handle situations or you not. If you handle a situation wrong, you, it will haunt you.”
“The best thing I’ve done with my money is buy a house for my family. You wake up to a house you love and you feel like somebody.”
“Our household is built on love and respect. And we don’t really let negative vibes stay too long. It’s worked out. I got a great family, great kids.”
“I’ve got a lot to do. This is the first half of my career. I’m looking forward to the future and I’m proud about the past.”
“I feel like I got a whole lot of living to do before I think about summing it up in a book.”
“I have a really beautiful life right now, so there is no reason to be hostile. I’m a husband, a father and a man who tries to do the right thing in life and in my work.”
“I always tell people that if you gave me a pen and a piece of paper when I was a teenager and said, ‘Write out how you’d like your career to go,’ I would have probably short changed myself compared to what it’s been for real. I’m just extremely excited about what I’ve accomplished.”
“My advice for anyone who wants to follow in my footsteps: create your own path, hone your talent, be ready to show your talent, and don’t doubt yourself.”
“Embrace what makes up you. Some stereotypes are true – I love chicken, but that’s a stereotype; I love f*cking basketball, but that’s a stereotype, too. But who cares? Embrace it. Be who you are, and don’t be ashamed of what that is.”
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