I think women should band together to get us more respect in all the businesses that we're in because, you know, if we turn 40, we're nothing and nobody. We all should band together and just say we're not gonna go down like that.
— Mary J. Blige
I've been praying to God to show me how to forgive myself. Because... maybe... that's the thing I've been searching for.
Growing up, I was the preferred hairstylist for all of my friends.
I can have as many bad days as anyone. But I choose to say, 'I'm just fine.'
If you're here right now in your life, your journey continues and you've lived to tell the story.
When you finally understand who you are, ages 6 through 60 will understand who you are. Because when they see a person that's come through all that I've come through, still standing, it's amazing.
Believe in yourself when nobody else does.
Larry David makes me laugh.
I have to have lemon and honey. I have to have apple cider vinegar, Braggs. And I have to have either Red Vines or Twizzlers. These things, you know, are the things that help my vocal performance.
Two hurt people can not help each other. They can not.
When you come from so many damaged places you don't ever want to spiral back there, so you gotta continue to check yourself.
I started speaking about what I was dealing with through my music, and 4 million women responded and said, 'Us too, Mary.' And I didn't know that everyone was hurting like I was hurting. I had no idea.
If we didn't have understanding of our journey, we wouldn't be able to go on. We'd be stuck, like, 'Why me?'
As long as I live, I know I'll have feelings. And that's what I'm passionate about.
I just love food, period.
Sometimes I frown and I don't realise it.
You can't get around pain and opposition, but you can try to be joyful in the trial, and thank yourself for the trial, and thank God for the strength to get through it.
I believe this generation should know their history and they should know that the struggle's not over yet.
I used to think I was ugly. I thought I looked like a camel. A person who doesn't love themselves, they will see anything that pops up on their face. I've seen squirrels, I've seen a bird, and I've seen all kinds of animals on my face. But that is the result of self-hate. I've learned to say: 'You know what? I am a beautiful black woman'.
As a kid, I was in love with Michael Jackson, and I just knew I was going to marry him someday.
So as long as I'm a human being and I'm not perfect, I'm able to say I'm having some growing pains. Because in order to sustain where you are once you made such a breakthrough that everyone is looking at you, now everyone is like, 'Ooh, is she gonna make a mistake?' Yes, I'm going to make a mistake. Yes, I'm still gonna do things.
I like French fries; I like mashed. I love potatoes.
I always want to be a messenger, a person that, you know, that's not afraid to pass on wisdom.
I can't just make a song people can dance in a club to... it still has to be real.
From being a little girl in the projects, going through all of the mess that I was going through, to ending up at the Inauguration for the first African-American president, I'm speechless right now because I never thought I'd - I never ever - I couldn't even see that far. Even when I ended up in the music business, I couldn't see that.
I like hanging out with me, and I've accepted everything about me good, bad whatever it is. That's why I'm able to, that's why no one can tell me anything negative about myself.
I cannot save the world; that's not what I'm trying to do. I guess I'm just trying to walk the walk and be an example to those that want it. Not everybody does, but if Mary J. Blige can come out of that same hole you were in, then you can do it, too - that's my goal: to do that without saying it, but actually live it.
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.
There's so many things that life is, and no matter how many breakthroughs, trials will exist and we're going to get through it. Just be strong.
I never do any album to beat it. I do it to extend it.
The music business is not a good place for people who don't know things.
Without your health, everything else means nothing.
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.
If you're not confident in yourself, you're going to waver. I've wavered, and I've lost.
I believe that anything man himself can do for me, God can do for me in a greater way. I decided to pray and to seek God on my own. I just stayed in The Word. And it worked.
I still get nervous about singing. I drink tea with honey and lemon before every concert. And I need to have scented candles in all of my hotel rooms.
It hurts when you have to smile and you don't want to smile, but the best thing to do is to smile.
So many people are like, 'I'm perfect.' I'm so imperfect; that's why I'm able to let everything out and let people see everything. 'Cause I'm just a mess like every other person that's a mess out there.
I like to do interior design, I love to quilt, I love to see different colors together, and I love to match things up.
It hurts a lot when you cannot really comprehend what a person is saying in a meeting, or you don't even understand what you're reading in your contract.
When life is real, it's not going to be smooth.
My journey continues, because I've, you know, conquered a lot. And I know how to conquer the rest.
I had to learn how to trust my gut. Trust what I know to be right... not right, but not waver on who I am. Know who I am, know what I want, and know it. Not waver on it and be secure in that. And I still struggle with it. But I really... I can't be moved. You can't move me, and that all comes with loving myself, and I'm like my best buddy.
People know what they see but they don't know what's happening inside. If you want to know who you are and how you feel about yourself, take a look at your environment.
The younger Mary J. Blige, I would call her, she was very unaware, ignorant.
I just want fans to walk away knowing that no matter what's going on, no matter how happy you are, no matter how sad you are, we did it. We're strong in this. We've come a long way, and life is not just one thing.
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.
When someone comes up to me and says, 'Mary, you helped save my marriage', or, 'Mary, you helped me get out of this abusive relationship', I'm in it, really in their lives. And I'm so passionate about my feelings, but also about showing people the way through theirs.
I don't have any health problems, but to keep your health improves your quality of life.
I grew up watching MTV, when Journey was huge, when Pat Benatar had 'Love Is a Battlefield,' and my friends and I used to cut school to watch this woman in the video. We loved Pat Benatar.
