Anika Noni Rose Quotes

If somehow I can, before I leave this earth, combine my absolutely mad freedom and excitement with truth, then I will have done something.

The secret to life is to put yourself in the right lighting. For some, it's a Broadway spotlight; for others, a lamplit desk. Use your natural powers -- of persistence, concentration, and insight -- to do work you love and work that matters. Solve problems. make art, think deeply.

I think rap was a better move for me but football's been my love since I learned how to walk. I was gonna be a running back or quarterback. That was my life. That was it but things happen for a reason. I wouldn't trade this in for nothing.

Sometimes it takes the better part of a lifetime to find out what your passion is, but in my observation, if you do, it might be the best part of your life.

I was working at Kentucky Fried Chicken when my math teacher said, "You're failing in school, you're messing up, why don't you just try this?" I said, "Alright, let me try it," and I started going to acting classes and I loved it. I thought, "I may not make it but I love doing it."

All of us have to figure out our own passion, our own journey. Follow your heart.

You just do what you love, and then a style happens later on.

One of the things that may get in the way of people ... is that they're not in touch with their passion. If you're passionate about what it is you do, then you're going to be looking for everything you can to get better at it.

I think young people ought to seek that differential experience that is going to knock them off dead center. I was a typical American school boy. I happened to get straight A's and be pretty good in sports. But I had no great vision of what I could be. And I never had any yearning.

Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction

I choose to fill my days with what I'm passionate about, and live with purpose.

If you're following your dreams, you're doing something you love and that you believe in yourself for.

I think that most people will spend their whole life not figuring out what they're meant to do, or figuring out what they're meant to do on their way to do something else. So I just feel lucky that I know what I love to do. Everything else figures itself out.

Acting was a godsend. I found myself because I loved acting.

I love life. I'm fascinated by human behavior because that feeds back into my work.

You pursue what you love, and if you find beauty or truth, you go with that.

The only reason why you should do a film is because it creatively carbonates you and gets you going. If you're doing it for any other reason, you've lost sight of why you're acting in the first place.

I envy people with dreams and passions, but I don't think that way. I still don't have a 'bliss' to follow. For people like me - I suspect that's most people - holding out for a 'dream' or a 'passion' is paralyzing. I just like having work I enjoy that feels meaningful. That's hard enough... but it's enough.

Asked to give advice to a 13-year-old girl about how to lead her life, I say find something you love to do. The goal shouldn't be accumulating money. It might be making changes in the world, or in your country.

Before I discovered moviemaking, I hadn't found anything where I could kind of galvanize or meld all of the things that I wanted to do.

I learned from a very young age that if I pursued the things that truly excited me, that they would reward in more important ways, like happiness.

As a young actor, people were trying to define who I was before I really knew that for myself. But I still remember thinking, 'This is what I love doing, and I hope I'm going to be able to do it forever.'

A good thing to live by is to go after what truly interests you.

I think I was lucky I got into art college. That's what saved me.

I think maybe one day I'll go back to music. I don't know. I don't know if sometimes you lose a passion or you don't lose it, it becomes more personal and less about sharing it with everyone.