India Arie Quotes

Don't let nobody try to stop y'all from doing what y'all trying to do man.

There's no way in hell I'm supposed to be on television or be a broadcaster of any regard. But I have defied those odds because I believe in this: I am damn sure not going to let somebody else define who I am.

When I was young, a lot of things were closed off to me. I was always told, 'Don't do this, you can't do that' - instead of stopping me, it made me think, 'I can do that, I must do that.'

I didn't want to feel constrained, so I took on the Mutants.

No matter where you come from, no matter what you decide to do in life, you can do anything you want to do.

The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.

Things don't weigh me down any more. I confront things, and I move on. I don't dwell on things; I don't let things simmer under the surface. I am where it starts and where it ends. I have the power in my life to be happy.

It's important to me to try and expose young people to the things they believe are off-limits to them. I tell them, 'There are no walls, only the ones we put up.' My advice to young people looking at my life is not to follow my footprint but to go out there and make their own.

Can't nothing make your life work if you ain't the architect.

Somewhere we turn ourselves into victims instead of being the powerful women we really are meant to be.

Growing up in England, people told you why you couldn't do things. Suddenly, I had a publisher banging on my door, and was given the creative green light to simply make.

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.

Power can be taken, but not given. The process of the taking is empowerment in itself.

We are no longer puppets being manipulated by outside powerful forces: we become the powerful force ourselves.

Writing so that I can act became a way of having not more control over my future but not having to wait for permission. You can choose yourself. Hmm, who should play this part? I nominate me!

I'd taken the bull by the horns by liberating myself and creating a career. It took guts - it was scary and chancy - but they discounted me as empty-headed: some little piece of fluff without any brain that happened to come along.

Freedom is not safety but opportunity.

We cannot let ourselves be infantalized. We cannot let ourselves be stereotyped.

We can do it all and have it all. That's what I want young women to know. Make their own music. If nobody's making music for them, make your own. Do what you are passionate about and don't let anybody or anything stop you or convince you that you are not worthy.

I have learned that you can do anything you want to. They used to ask me if I thought the first lady ought to be paid. If you get paid, then I have to do what first lady is supposed to do. But you can do anything you want to, and it's such a great soap box.

Acting is a job of permission. Someone has to give you permission to do it. But I have started to be like, 'I only want to do things that I want to do,' and writing has afforded me the luxury.

Because you are women, people will force their thinking on you, their boundaries on you. They will tell you how to dress, how to behave, who you can meet and where you can go. Don't live in the shadows of people's judgement. Make your own choices in the light of your own wisdom.

My message always is: No matter where you are from, no matter what past you have, it is all about your future and your goals.

People tell me I'm not supposed to do the things that I do at my size. I just take it as a blessing.

Honestly, the thing that I have found to be most useful over a long career, or maintaining a long career, is taking back the power at some point and self-producing.