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My grandmother told me: 'Never be in debt to anyone or anything.' Which is probably why I've never been financially extravagant - I still go to Costco. I'm always conscious of living within my means.
Jill Scott -
Anytime you share life stories with other people, you know, you are acknowledging their humanity and kind of accessing some things about yourself, and other people start to expect things about themselves. It's kind of like a fellowship.
Jill Scott
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A nutritionist has told me to have very little butter and very little spices, but I can't live like that.
Jill Scott -
I've been reading poetry publicly for 20 years, and this is what you do - you express, you sometimes dig a bit to get a conversation started. That's the point of poetry. You're supposed to go, 'Hmmmm,' and 'Woooh!'
Jill Scott -
I've always enjoyed shows like 'The X-Files,' where you're on the edge of your seat and you're so invested in these characters.
Jill Scott -
Sometimes I felt as a writer I was purging, and it almost hurt to purge to that level. Now it doesn't feel that way, maybe because I'm older. Maybe life has given me some punches, but it didn't knock me down.
Jill Scott -
I think, as an artist, you have to have experienced some deep turmoil, some kind of pain, because that's what connects you with the world. That's what makes it juicy!
Jill Scott -
I was reading poetry to my girlfriends, and they were like, 'You're really good. You should go to some poetry readings or something.' And I eventually went and got a, you know, somewhat of a name for myself and a little bit of a following.
Jill Scott
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I just think it's silly to be stingy with compliments. If you see someone and they strike you as beautiful in any way, why not let them know?
Jill Scott -
I've done a lot of fighting in my time, and I'm down to do some more. I don't want to, but you know, there's just certain things that you can't sit down and take.
Jill Scott -
My mother's a genius. She just kept feeding me art on whatever we had; paper plates, silver platter, didn't matter. You know, she just kept feeding it to me. So we went to see all kinds of theater. We would go to the art museum pretty much every Sunday, and I would watch her. She let me know that art was supposed to touch.
Jill Scott -
Back in my mid-20s I was told I'd never be able to have children as I wasn't having periods. Doctors tried to start up my monthly cycles, but when nothing worked, they actually offered me a hysterectomy. Without it, they said I might get ovarian cancer in the future. I chose not to have the operation, and am so glad I didn't.
Jill Scott -
African people worldwide are known to be welcoming and open-minded.
Jill Scott -
Being a mom, it feels like I did something so powerful and amazing. It's such a gigantic blessing, and a confirmation that the Creator exists. And all of that has made me feel sexier and stronger. I call it 'lava in my spine.'
Jill Scott
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I'm a secret interior decorator. There's a mural on my dining room wall of the railroad tracks at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. I love having my hometown with me out here in California.
Jill Scott -
I have a few caftans just for lounging purposes. When I want to feel free, it's the closest thing to feeling naked without being naked.
Jill Scott -
I could hear music playing in the background of works by certain authors, like Poe and Shakespeare. And I discovered Nikki Giovanni when I was in eighth grade. Her writing has a musical energy with pulse and rhythm, almost like jazz or hip-hop.
Jill Scott -
All I have to do is be me on stage. But acting, I have to be someone else, and walk how they would walk and blink how they would blink. I used to talk about it bad like, 'Aw man, that person made $10 million a movie?' But now I understand why they do. I get it now.
Jill Scott -
People is, I think, it's their nature - some people's nature, in a way, to be angry or jealous or just spiteful about somebody else's blessings.
Jill Scott -
All man-made religions are limited. I go my own way.
Jill Scott
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When Jett puts my face in his hands and tells me, 'Mommy you're so pretty' or smells me, it's so wonderful.
Jill Scott -
I'm not interested in being commodified. I'm not into being sold. I'm not a slave.
Jill Scott -
The highs, the lows, the peaks, the valleys, whatever, it's all going to go into the art, whether I'm singing or acting or whatever.
Jill Scott -
There are repercussions to everything, even advancement and success. And I think that the repercussions to my success was the loss of my marriage.
Jill Scott