Queen Latifah, born Dana Elaine Owens on March 18, 1970, is a multifaceted American artist known for her pioneering role in hip-hop, impactful music career, and successful ventures in acting, producing, and hosting. Her debut album “All Hail the Queen” in the late 1980s marked her prominence in rap with socially conscious themes. In addition to her musical achievements, Latifah has garnered acclaim for acting in films like “Chicago” and “Bringing Down the House,” as well as her TV work in “Living Single.” Beyond entertainment, she is recognized for philanthropy and advocacy, supporting causes such as gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. Queen Latifah’s career reflects her influence in breaking barriers and promoting empowerment in various domains of the entertainment industry.
Queen Latifah Quotes
1. “It’s not always easy to do the right thing. But, doing the right thing makes you strong, it builds character.”
— Queen Latifah
2. “Dreams become reality when we put our minds to it.”
— Queen Latifah
3. “Be bold, be brave enough to be your true self.”
— Queen Latifah
4. “Always follow your own path.”
— Queen Latifah
5. “Life’s not about sitting at home in front of the TV waiting for your life to begin. Get out there and take some chances.”
— Queen Latifah
6. “You can’t let fear paralyze you. The worse that can happen is you fail, but guess what: You get up and try again. Feel that pain, get over it, get up, dust yourself off and keep it moving.”
— Queen Latifah
7. “I’m not living large; I just want to live comfortably. I wanna have financial stability that is unshakable.”
— Queen Latifah
8. “I didn’t know I had it in me. There’s more to all of us than we realize. Life is so much bigger, grander, higher, and wider than we allow ourselves to think. We’re capable of so much more than we allow ourselves to believe.”
— Queen Latifah
9. “I feel like every woman is a queen, and we should be treated as such, and we should, you know, sort of request that sort of treatment from others.”
— Queen Latifah
10. “If you try to follow everyone else’s mold, you’ll probably fail at some point because God created us uniquely for a reason.”
— Queen Latifah
11. “I don’t care how much money you have, free stuff is always a good thing.”
— Queen Latifah
12. “I had to grow to love my body. I did not have a good self-image at first. Finally it occurred to me, I’m either going to love me or hate me. And I chose to love myself. Then everything kind of sprung from there. Things that I thought weren’t attractive became sexy. Confidence makes you sexy.”
— Queen Latifah
13. “I decided early on that I was going to put on my crown and rule my world by acting right and treating myself like a queen.”
— Queen Latifah
14. “You have to stand for what you believe in and sometimes you have to stand alone.”
— Queen Latifah
15. “How many crossroads are you allowed to have in life? I seem to have a lot of crossroads. I think maybe I crossed back across the same road too often.”
— Queen Latifah
16. “Let your inner queen’s voice come through loud and clear. Be strong, be authentic, be you, and you’ll do her proud.”
— Queen Latifah
17. “Business is fun. Controlling your own destiny is fun. Creating an idea and turning it into a movie; finding an artist and guiding their career and bringing them to some type of status – there’s joy in that.”
— Queen Latifah
18. “When I was around 18, I looked in the mirror and said, ‘You’re either going to love yourself or hate yourself.’ And I decided to love myself. That changed a lot of things.”
— Queen Latifah
19. “For me, it might sound cliche, but beauty for me really does start on the inside. It’s like a state of mind, a state of love if you will. Then, whatever you can do on the outside is all like a bonus.”
— Queen Latifah
20. “Most people don’t have so much talent that they can become a success all their own. We all need people to help us and lift us up.”
— Queen Latifah
21. “No one ever got ahead by going through the motions. You have to constantly be improving yourself. Make your life the masterpiece you want it to be.”
— Queen Latifah
22. “Beauty is not just a white girl. It’s so many different flavors and shades.”
— Queen Latifah
23. “Every woman is a queen, and we all have different things to offer.”
— Queen Latifah
24. “Once you realize there is a Higher Power, you know you’re not alone, that you have a purpose on the planet. You control your destiny instead of letting the day lead you where it may. You seize it, take it and lead it.”
— Queen Latifah
25. “Life is so much bigger, grander, higher, and wider than we allow ourselves to think.”
— Queen Latifah
26. “A confident woman is a sexy woman, in my opinion. And I think guys find that to be the same way.”
— Queen Latifah
27. “Racism is ignorant. And it’s stupid. And it’s old. And it’s played out. So beat it already with that, you know what I mean? ‘Let’s all get along’ – I’m so tired of that damn sentence, but it’s true.”
— Queen Latifah
28. “If there are kids who want to follow in my footsteps, I’d say that my shoes are too big for them to fill! But their shoe size is just perfect.”
— Queen Latifah
29. “To me, hip hop will never be right until female rappers have a stronger voice in it.”
— Queen Latifah
30. “You can huff and puff. But blow me down? I doubt it kid, or you get your ass whupped.”
— Queen Latifah
31. “Sometimes I pray when I really feel like I need God to help me with something, and sometimes we just have conversations. We just kick it.”
— Queen Latifah
32. “For myself music definitely informs my emotions. And I can literally play a song that will get me where I need to be emotionally. I don’t have to think about the tragic things that happened in my life or the greatest things that happened in my life.”
— Queen Latifah
33. “Hip-hop definitely taught me a lot. Having to create your own identity and become known and respected in a male-dominated field – it requires some guts. There are times you have to be strong, and times when you have to stand alone for what you believe in.”
— Queen Latifah
34. “I have a drum set in my dressing room. I play drums to relax and have some fun.”
— Queen Latifah
35. “I don’t feel like I need to share my personal life, and I don’t care if people think I’m gay or not. Assume whatever you want. You do it anyway.”
— Queen Latifah
36. “I love riding, even if it’s just my Vespa. You just zip and do your thing. I find there’s a different awareness when I ride; it connects me to my senses and to God.”
— Queen Latifah
37. “Look at people for an example, but then make sure to do things your way. Surround yourself with positive people.”
— Queen Latifah
38. “I want every day to be life for the living, not just traipsing through it existing. I’m just interested in life and the world and exploring.”
— Queen Latifah
39. “I am a strong woman with or without this other person, with or without this job, and with or without these tight pants.”
— Queen Latifah
40. “I’m the daughter of a sister whose the mother of a brother who’s the brother of another.”
— Queen Latifah
41. “I often go to bed in my birthday suit. But I like teddies and cute little undies that match. I like a sexy bra and panty set, or little shorts.”
— Queen Latifah
42. “I don’t want to be a supermodel; I want to be a role model.”
— Queen Latifah
43. “I often find it’s just the confidence that makes you sexy, not what your body looks like. It’s how you feel about yourself that makes you sexy.”
— Queen Latifah
44. “The females don’t respect themselves; they only think materialistically. They want money, but they don’t think, I’m gonna get this money on my own, they think, I’m gonna get money from this guy.”
— Queen Latifah
45. “I like Pirate’s Booty. Prunes and olives, too. I love hummus. I can eat that until I die. I tend to eat mostly organic food.”
— Queen Latifah
46. “I enjoy going to work and having a good time. It’s tough when you got to work with people who just are in a bad mood all the damn time.”
— Queen Latifah
47. “I’ve loved car racing all my life. I watch NASCAR regularly, and drag racing because we have Raceway Park in New Jersey. I think I got it from my father.”
— Queen Latifah
48. “What would your life be like if you found out you had 3 weeks left? And you know that you had not begun to live? And you had all these dreams and all these possibilities. And all these things you wanted to do and things you wanted to say and now time’s up?”
— Queen Latifah
49. “There are times you can’t really see or even feel how sweet life can be. Hopefully its mountains will be higher than its valleys are deep. I know things that are broken can be fixed. Take the punch if you have to, hit the canvas and then get up again. Life is worth it.”
— Queen Latifah
50. “You just have to connect with people who believe in your vision and who will work with you and advance your cause.”
— Queen Latifah
51. “I wish every woman would love herself and embrace what she was given naturally.”
— Queen Latifah
52. “The movie I’ve seen a million times is ‘Steel Magnolias,’ directed by Herbert Ross, starring Sally Field and Julia Roberts.”
— Queen Latifah
53. “Having a belief in God, being able to find joy, despite your circumstances or put yourself outside of yourself, and stop looking inwards and look outwards a little bit really helps to carry through tough times. Giving makes you feel better.”
— Queen Latifah
54. “There are a lot of people who helped make Queen Latifah who she is today. I don’t forget, but a lot of people do and get big heads. My mom will make me walk the dogs or take out the trash when I go home. I’m not allowed to get a big head; I’ve still got to do the simple things in life.”
— Queen Latifah
55. “Dolly Parton made me chicken and dumplings. That Tennessee woman can burn some pots! And we know that I am not necessarily shy to a fork!”
— Queen Latifah
56. “I don’t have any regrets. If I could have talked to my 19- or 20-year-old self, I would have said, ‘You’re going to be fine. It ain’t that serious!’”
— Queen Latifah
57. “There was always music in our home. My mom and my dad loved music. I remember when we were kids we would have these great parties at the house with congas and bongos and African drums, and it was amazing. It wasn’t until years later that I found out that they were actually Black Panther meetings.”
— Queen Latifah
58. “There’s no way I can represent for everyone. I can’t represent for all women or all big women or all black women. It’s important for people not to make celebrities their source of who they should be in life. I can’t take on the pressure of being perfect. Nobody is.”
— Queen Latifah
59. “I never wanted to give up my power. I wanted to be able to make my own decisions, so that’s why I became involved in management, bottom line.”
— Queen Latifah
60. “It was a very vulnerable time going from being insecure about my body and who I am to becoming comfortable with me. I had to tune out what the hell everybody else had to say about who I was. When I was able to do that, I felt free.”
— Queen Latifah
61. “My mother wouldn’t allow me to speak slang when I was growing up. But when I got outside, around my friends, it was ‘Yo’ and ‘That’s the joint’ and ‘Yo, what’s up?’ So I had my game for my friends and my game for my mom.”
— Queen Latifah
62. “As a rapper, you sort of act in music videos and in the persona you adopt onstage. You kinda have to put yourself out there and be courageous even to be a rapper. So, to step into acting was not that difficult a transition to make.”
— Queen Latifah
63. “New Jersey is a great place to live. And we have given some of the best talent to the world, from Jack Nicholson, John Travolta, to Jerry Lewis to Bon Jovi to Frank Sinatra.”
— Queen Latifah
64. “I have always felt strongly about empowering women. I’m living proof that, with confidence and by believing in yourself, you can accomplish any goal.”
— Queen Latifah
65. “If I ran into a 19-year-old version of myself, I’d just tell her to live, full out. I might also tell her to go ahead and have a few babies and not worry about the timing of it.”
— Queen Latifah
66. “My mom has always been my champion. She was very smart and grounded. She said, ‘Save your money. Pay your taxes. Don’t put everything in one basket,’ but she let me explore and be creative.”
— Queen Latifah
67. “My mom will make me walk the dogs or take out the trash when I go home.”
— Queen Latifah
68. “I love music. I’ve just been putting studios together, here and at my house in New Jersey and so I can always make music and express my ideas and work with people to fine tune them to where they need to be.”
— Queen Latifah
69. “My house borders horse farms, and I can look out my window and see the horses and the new colts. It’s really peaceful.”
— Queen Latifah
70. “I was taught from a young age that many people would treat me as a second-class citizen because I was African-American and because I was female.”
— Queen Latifah
71. “I’d say, if you want to be an artist, start with your art; start with making great music and it will, hopefully, eventually cut through all of the nonsense that is out there.”
— Queen Latifah
72. “Bowling, I like bowling. I’ve been getting into this bowling thing. It’s kinda fun.”
— Queen Latifah
73. “I do feel like I have a direct connection with God for some reason; always have since I was a little kid – I would talk to God, talk to the sky.”
— Queen Latifah
74. “If you can draw something from my life that helps, more power to you.”
— Queen Latifah
75. “When I’m wearing too-high heels and swaying my hips, I do that Sharon Stone kind of thing – she has the sexiest walk, a New York cool thing that throws you back.”
— Queen Latifah
76. “Award shows, like the Grammys, were tough on us early in hip-hop, not even televising our categories or splitting them up on best male or female or any of that. We had to earn them.”
— Queen Latifah
77. “I’m as involved as I can be. Whenever I’m asked to do something, I always tend to show up.”
— Queen Latifah
78. “I try to only commit myself to things that I think I can accomplish and commit myself to 100 percent. I try not to bite off more than I can chew.”
— Queen Latifah
79. “I would like – either as an actor, or producer or even director – to do something sci-fi or action-related. I like sci-fi, always have, ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Wars’ and all that stuff.”
— Queen Latifah
80. “I totally want, like, 18 babies.”
— Queen Latifah
81. “I never really took any acting classes. I’m just a natural ham, I guess.”
— Queen Latifah
82. “Running for office was definitely something I’ve thought about. When I was younger, I wanted to major in political science. And I’ve been engaged in current events since I was a kid. If I can make a difference and feel passionately and capable, then I would. Why not?”
— Queen Latifah
83. “I believe that the kids, young people should have an opportunity to have Oscar nominated actors in their movies too.”
— Queen Latifah
84. “I love Ralph Lauren, just as a designer. I still think he could make some better sizes with his clothes, but I like the idea of his classic American style.”
— Queen Latifah
85. “Sometimes when I am in a situation that I have never been in, I kind of pull back a little bit to observe things; it doesn’t really last long though I have to. I’ve resigned to myself to the fact that I have to be me.”
— Queen Latifah
86. “I designed my whole image. That was all me. I just bought some regular clothes, threw a medallion around my neck, and that was it. The next thing I know, that’s the look.”
— Queen Latifah
87. “I want to have and adopt. I always have; ever since I was 18, I wanted a baby, and I wanted to have and adopt because there are a lot of kids. I want to adopt an American baby though, you know what I mean, no offense. Just because there are so many kids here that need our help.”
— Queen Latifah
88. “Yeah, I’m from Jersey; it’s almost like I was automatically born a Nets fan.”
— Queen Latifah
89. “I feel strongly that women who look like me should feel great. So I am not changing.”
— Queen Latifah
90. “I came from a crew, and to me, all the guys I rapped with were better than me, so I was surprised when I was the breakout one. It was definitely a cool thing.”
— Queen Latifah
91. “Having Black hair is unique in that Black women change up styles a lot. You can walk down one street block in New York City and see 10 different hairstyles that Black women are wearing: straight curls, short cuts, braids – we really run the gamut.”
— Queen Latifah
92. “Anyone who knows me knows that I’m way more of a joker than I am a serious person.”
— Queen Latifah
93. “Don’t you want to know what’s real and what’s not? I remember when I was a kid, you know, this whole Cold War thing. They had us scared of the Russians. So, it’s almost like, what’s real and what’s not?”
— Queen Latifah
94. “To me, doing a gay pride show is one of the most fun things. My first show that paid more than $10,000 was in a gay club on New Year’s Eve in San Francisco.”
— Queen Latifah
95. “Fear can be good when you’re walking past an alley at night or when you need to check the locks on your doors before you go to bed, but it’s not good when you have a goal and you’re fearful of obstacles. We often get trapped by our fears, but anyone who has had success has failed before.”
— Queen Latifah
96. “You do silly things for love sometimes and not-so-smart things for love.”
— Queen Latifah
97. “I don’t have to take a trip around the world or be on a yacht in the Mediterranean to have happiness. I can find it in the little things, like looking out into my backyard and seeing deer in the fields.”
— Queen Latifah
98. “Even if you don’t have anything, even if you’ve got a quarter in your pocket, to share with someone else who has nothing really helps.”
— Queen Latifah
99. “I lost relatives to AIDS, a couple of my closest cousins. I lost friends to AIDS, high-school friends who never even made it to their 21st birthdays in the ’80s. When it’s that close to you, you can’t really deny it, and you can’t run from it.”
— Queen Latifah
100. “Those curveballs are always coming-eventually, you learn to hit some of them.”
— Queen Latifah
