Mary J. Blige

Mary: Oprah was like, 'I didn't care for you, but it was when I got to know you that I realized who you were.' Though Oprah is now a friend, Mary is not surprised at her opinion. I understand somebody like her wouldn't even feel me at all. I'm a n*gga, you know what I'm sayin'? So when she said that to me, I was like, 'Thank you for that honesty.

Mary: (On Jamie Lynn Spears Pregnancy) Stay strong, baby girl, if that's her choice [to keep the baby], then congratulations. Hope she's responsible, and I hope she understands what that brings... You have to change your lifestyle up, so [your children] can look at you as an example. It's all about Mommy being an example, Jamie. That's what it's about.

Mary: The scar on my face, the lips that God gave me, the big giant feet, the long legs, whatever it is that I'm deformed with I got to love it, so everybody else can love it.

Mary: It almost kills me to say I'm in love, because as soon as men hear that shit, they're gone.

Mary: I don't know. Only God know's where the story ends for me, but I know where the story begins. It's up to us to choose, whether we win or lose and I choose to win.

Mary: 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 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."

Mary: I think Dre is one of the nicest producers I've ever worked with. He has so much class and he's very ego-less and that makes it easy to work with Dre.

Mary: I honor Aretha Franklin and respect her. I don't know her, but I love her because I look at my life and I see hers.

Mary: I don't want no drama in my life, even though we have a little bit, but no more letting people control you. That's drama, because then you become something that you're not.

Mary: That's the message I want to give to every up-and-coming artist: Do everything that is going to help you later. If you clone somebody else, that's all they're gonna keep wanting from you.

Mary: The streets respect me because I kept it real with me. You gotta be real with yourself, and the streets recognize game.

Mary: When I was little, like 7 to 15, there was nothing I wanted to do but go to church and go to school.

Mary: Working in the studio is a more personal experience whereas on stage in front of a billion people, it's more exciting performing live.

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

Mary: I love my fans. I love what I'm doing, period.

Mary: I mean, I know my heart is not clean, and your heart is not clean, and none of our urban hearts are clean. But you can be washed again.

Mary: Everything is scary if you look at it. So you just got to live.

Mary: You gotta take what you need, love them and respect them, and build your own foundation with it.

Mary: 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.

Mary: It was great to work with Jay-Z again, he's never let me down and given me a whack tune and Eve she's great and I love 50 cent, he's such a genuine person, when I met him I looked in his eyes and I knew that he is a real person and I have a lot of love for him.