"For me giving up is way harder than trying."
- Kanye West
Perseverance
"If you have the opportunity to play this game called life, you have to appreciate every moment. A lot of people don't appreciate their moment until it's passed"
- Kanye West
Awareness
"People always say that you can’t please everybody. I think that’s a cop-out. Why not attempt it? ‘Cause think of all the people you will please if you try"
- Kanye West
Motivation
"My goal, if I was going to do art, fine art, would have been to become Picasso or greater. That always sounds so funny to people, comparing yourself to someone in the past that has done so much, and in your life you're not even allowed to think that you can do as much. That's a mentality that suppresses humanity."
- Kanye West
Ambition
"I feel that I’m very blessed. But with great blessings come great responsibility."
- Kanye West
Responsibility
"I approach creativity like a sport, where if I have a drawing I react just like a jock: LOOK AT THE FUCKING DRAWING RIGHT THERE YEAH! We're all creatives here, we're all born artists."
- Kanye West
Creativity
"I'm not comfortable with comfort. I'm only comfortable when I'm in a place where I'm constantly learning and growing."
- Kanye West
Personal Growth
"Why, if someone is good in one field can they not be accepted or given the slightest opportunity to express and be creative in other fields?"
- Kanye West
Creativity
"Shoot for the stars, so if you fall you land on a cloud."
- Kanye West
Aspirations
"..my music isn't just music- its medicine."
- Kanye West
Healing
"Believe in your flyness...conquer your shyness"
- Kanye West
Self-confidence
"Society has put up so many boundaries, so many limitations on what’s right and wrong that it’s almost impossible to get a pure thought out. It’s like a little kid, a little boy, looking at colors, and no one told him what colors are good, before somebody tells you you shouldn’t like pink because that’s for girls, or you’d instantly become a gay two-year-old. Why would anyone pick blue over pink? Pink is obviously a better color. Everyone’s born confident, and everything’s taken away from you"
- Kanye West
Awareness
"I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book's autograph."
- Kanye West
Awareness
"I'll say things that are serious and put them in a joke form so people can enjoy them. We laugh to keep from crying."
- Kanye West
Courage
"Sometimes when I see a bad performance and people still clap... I wonder if they're clapping because they liked what they saw or because they're happy it's over?"
- Kanye West
Reflection
"I believe in myself like a five-year-old believes in himself. They say look at me, look at me! Then they do a flip in the backyard. It won't even be that amazing, but everyone will be clapping for them."
- Kanye West
Self-confidence
"To use is necessary. And if you can't be used, then you're useless."
- Kanye West
Responsibility
"My greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform live."
- Kanye West
Adversity
"That that don't kill me, can only make me stronger."
- Kanye West
Resilience
"My life is dope and I do dope shit."
- Kanye West
Self-confidence
"Talkin', talkin, talkin', talk. Baby, let's just knock it off. They don't know what we been through. They don't know 'bout me and you."
- Kanye West
Reflection
"homie I'm graduated"
- Kanye West
Achievement
"If you know you're the best it only makes sense for you to surround yourself with the best. NO EXCEPTIONS"
- Kanye West
Self-confidence
"The prettiest people do the ugliest things."
- Kanye West
Reflection
"I've known my mom since I was zero years old. She is quite dope."
- Kanye West
Family
"As we live, our hearts turn colder. Cause pain is what we go through, as we become older. We get insulted by others, lose trust for those others. We get back stabbed by friends. It becomes harder for us to give others a hand. We get our heart broken by people we love, even that we give them all we have. Then we lose family over time. What else could rust the heart more over time? Blackgold."
- Kanye West
Adversity
"Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed. I am not a fan of books ... I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life."
- Kanye West
Awareness
"Keep rockin', and keep knockin' Whether you Louis Vuitton it up or Reebokin' You see the hate, that they're servin' on a platter So what we gon' have, dessert or disaster?"
- Kanye West
Motivation
"George Bush doesn't care about black people."
- Kanye West
Adversity
"Everything I'm not makes me everything I am"
- Kanye West
Self-awareness
"If you admire somebody, you should go ahead and tell them. People never get the flowers while they can still smell them."
- Kanye West
Compassion
"I refuse to accept other people's ideas of happiness for me. As if there's a "one size fits all" standard for happiness."
- Kanye West
Belief in Self
"Love your haters - they're your biggest fans"
- Kanye West
Positivity
"Having money isn't everything, not having it is."
- Kanye West
Awareness
"I still think I am the greatest."
- Kanye West
Self-confidence
"Everyone's always telling you to be humble. When was the last time someone told you to be great?"
- Kanye West
Motivation
"Keep your vision clear, and intact."
- Kanye West
Vision
"Make your own decisions. This is your life, after all. Don't blame others if it ends wrong."
- Kanye West
Responsibility
"I am so credible and so influential and so relevant that I will change things."
- Kanye West
Ambition
"One of my biggest Achilles heels has been my ego. And if I, Kanye West, the very person, can remove my ego, I think there's hope for everyone."
- Kanye West
Self-improvement
"I went from having confidence and arrogance to having faith, and faith is the opposite of fear. And that created this fearless approach that I have."
- Kanye West
Faith
"I refuse to accept other people’s ideas of happiness for me. As if there’s a ‘one size fits all’ standard for happiness."
- Kanye West
Self-awareness
"I am God’s vessel. But my greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform live."
- Kanye West
Self-confidence
"Would you believe in what you believe in if you were the only one who believed it?"
- Kanye West
Belief
"Believe in your flyness, conquer your shyness."
- Kanye West
Self-confidence
"If you’re a fan of Kanye West, you’re not a fan of me, you’re a fan of yourself."
- Kanye West
Self-awareness
"That don’t kill me, can only make me stronger."
- Kanye West
Resilience
"My music isn’t just music — it’s medicine."
- Kanye West
Creativity
"I’m on a pursuit of awesomeness. Excellence is the bare minimum."
- Kanye West
Ambition
"Success is the best revenge."
- Kanye West
Success
"I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice."
- Kanye West
Ambition
"I am the nucleus."
- Kanye West
Self-confidence
"I HEARD YOU LIKE TO DO IT WITH THE LIGHTS ON. BUT I REALLY MAKE BABIES WHEN THE MIC'S ON."
- Kanye West
Creativity
"I hate when I'm on a flight and I wake up with a water bottle next to me like oh great now I gotta be responsible for this water bottle"
- Kanye West
Responsibility