Quotes By Mary J. Blige

One day I realized that I wasn't getting anywhere by blaming other people for my circumstances. I finally understood: Even if you feel someone has wronged you or owes you something, no one is going to give you anything for free.

Yonkers made me strong and made me believe in myself, because so many people would doubt you and not believe. There are people that would believe in you, but the environment was so harsh, nobody wanted you to get out, you know?

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.

I didn't never have to go to a therapist. I just always put it in a song and you heard me.

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

When I was a kid, I needed to sing because it makes me feel good about myself. It makes me feel good, period.

I'm a child of God. God is my mommy, my daddy. That's the only thing that'll keep my head up. If I don't remember who I am in him, I'm done.

I'm from the element of the streets that says that once you've made it, it's yours. But keep it to yourself.

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.

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.

I listen to gospel music.

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.

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.

You either learn from your experiences or go back and do the same thing, and I learned from my experiences.

My first album is playful.

I don't know what kind of God the rest of y'all are serving, but the God I serve says, 'Mary, you need to be the hottest thing this year, and I'm gonna make sure you're doing that.'

My God is a God who wants me to have things. He wants me to bling. He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block.

I don't listen to people's opinions. I have people around me who I can trust, but most of all I listen to myself.

I'm a singer who thinks like a rapper.

As a child I always wanted to be a singer. The music my mother played in the house moved me - Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Mahalia Jackson. It was truly spiritual. It made you understand what God was. We are all spirits. We get depressed. But music makes you want to live. I know my music has saved my life.

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.

It was only for two years, and I jumped from family to family. It's very scary.

You demand respect and you'll get it. First of all, you give respect.

'My Life' is soft, with notes of pear and gardenia, but still bold, with a woody base.

As a kid, I dreamed about being onstage.

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

'My Life' is not an autobiography. It's just music.