I remember praying for peace all the time as a kid.
— Queen Latifah
I feel like every woman is a queen, and we should be treated as such, and we should, you know, sort of request that sort of treatment from others.
Running for office was definitely something I've thought about. When I was younger, I wanted to major in political science. And I've been engaged in current events since I was a kid. If I can make a difference and feel passionately and capable, then I would. Why not?
I never pictured myself as just a rapper; I always wanted to act and do whatever else I could do. I always felt like I could do a lot of different things.
I was baptized a Baptist, but I'm just Christian, as far as I'm concerned. I could go in any church, doesn't matter if it's Baptist, Protestant, Episcopal, or Catholic.
There are a lot of people who helped make Queen Latifah who she is today. I don't forget, but a lot of people do and get big heads.
Dreams become reality when we put our minds to it.
Always follow your own path.
I made decisions that I regret, and I took them as learning experiences... I'm human, not perfect, like anybody else.
You can't let fear paralyze you. The worse that can happen is you fail, but guess what: You get up and try again. Feel that pain, get over it, get up, dust yourself off and keep it moving.
I did Jay Leno with Mike the Situation, and he just - he lives, like, ten minutes from me in Jersey. He's like, 'If you ever get a flat, call me. I'll come fix your tire.' That's how we do. That's neighborly, you know?
I enjoy just being me. I don't need to be Queen Latifah, the brand, 24 hours a day.
To wanna be me is to go through not just the good but the bad. You wanna share my story identically? Man, you gonna take some lumps.
God is my homeboy. Jesus is my homeboy.
I'm not allowed to get a big head, I've still got to do the simple things in life.
I think I'd be a great mom, honestly. I don't think I'll have any problem giving them all the love in the world. Discipline will be the hard part.
I really don't know how to be anyone else, and whenever I try to be anyone else, I fail miserably. Or I disappoint myself. It doesn't build my self-esteem, and it doesn't help me grow me at all.
If there are kids who want to follow in my footsteps, I'd say that my shoes are too big for them to fill! But their shoe size is just perfect.
I was taught from a young age that many people would treat me as a second-class citizen because I was African-American and because I was female.
Every woman is a queen, and we all have different things to offer.
New Jersey is a great place to live. And we have given some of the best talent to the world, from Jack Nicholson, John Travolta, to Jerry Lewis to Bon Jovi to Frank Sinatra.
If you can draw something from my life that helps, more power to you.
Hip-hop definitely taught me a lot. Having to create your own identity and become known and respected in a male-dominated field - it requires some guts. There are times you have to be strong, and times when you have to stand alone for what you believe in.
Sometimes I pray when I really feel like I need God to help me with something, and sometimes we just have conversations. We just kick it.
My mom will make me walk the dogs or take out the trash when I go home.
I don't have to really be in the 60s. Every time I hail a cab in New York, and they pass me by and pick up the white person, then I get a dose of it. Or when they don't want to take you to Harlem. I grew up with that.
Look at people for an example, but then make sure to do things your way. Surround yourself with positive people.
I lost relatives to AIDS, a couple of my closest cousins. I lost friends to AIDS, high-school friends who never even made it to their 21st birthdays in the '80s. When it's that close to you, you can't really deny it, and you can't run from it.
Don't you want to know what's real and what's not? I remember when I was a kid, you know, this whole Cold War thing. They had us scared of the Russians. So, it's almost like, what's real and what's not?
