John Legend Quotations

To have the chance to see your music be elevated and to have almost universally positive response to that music, makes me feel better every day. I feel more confident and inspired, and that's fun.

In terms of the technology I use the most, it's probably a tie between my Blackberry and my MacBook Pro laptop. That's how I communicate with the rest of the world and how I handle all the business I have to handle.

Sometimes there's that perfect moment when the crowd, the music, the energy of the room come together in a way that brings me to tears.

Soul is about authenticity. Soul is about finding the things in your life that are real and pure.

At the end of the day, there's only a few major stars in the music business, and then there's all these people that are aspiring to be that.

My first big break came with Lauryn Hill on a track called Everything is Everything, I played piano on that track way back in 1998.

The best training is to play by ear: trial by fire.

I'm trying to be me and embrace all the parts of me that have grown up, listened to more music and soaked up more influences.

I'm craving more soul, I'm craving more truth, I'm craving more socially - just people that are aware of what's going on in the world.

As a politician, you have to deal with someone wanting you to fail every day. I think I prefer being in a situation where generally people are rooting for me, and if they aren't rooting for me, they aren't out there to see my downfall. I respect the people who have the stomach for it.

When we see people that are impoverished and people who are dealt an unfair hand, then if we have the power to help them, we should try to do that.

As a young black boy, it made me proud to see black leaders that did something amazing and made the world change.

In the 1970s, for all the Stevie Wonders, I'm sure there were five artists that were making forgettable music.

I think writers are prone to hyperbole sometimes.

As a nation - and as a world - we need more truth.

London is a good fashion city. They're a little more daring. There's the element of the aristocracy, which is always interesting.

There's a certain confidence that comes with being sure about the way the world works.

I always felt that rap didn't cause crime; it just reflected it.

I'm honestly not a great gift giver. I could give better - my girlfriends have always complained about that.

The most important thing about technology is that it can seamlessly work its way into your routine and your life.

I used to work for a management consulting company, so I dressed differently - business casual, probably a lot of things from Banana Republic. My wardrobe now is definitely more expensive, but I always dress for the occasion.

Some people start with the lyrics first because they know what they want to talk about and they just write a whole bunch of lyrical ideas, but for me the music tells me what to talk about.

My first attempt at a kiss was in fifth grade, but it didn't go so well. Later, I used Boyz II Men and Jodeci songs to come on to girls. I had more success.

My first album, 'Get Lifted,' was a hip-hop soul album that had some of its roots in the church, as far as the sonic choices, in the way that I sing and write songs. I have always had that as part of my background and part of my influence when I am making music.

My dad liked a lot of Motown, but I didn't listen to it until my teenage years.

I don't actually go to a lot of games because I think football on TV is better. Even though I'm pretty busy, I watch 90 percent of Ohio State's games.

Whatever awards come, they come. It's going to be a fun night either way.

I think they need to get a more reliable way of watching television on the laptop. Because I travel so much, if I want to watch my favorite sports team it might not be showing in that place, so I want a reliable way to watch whatever I want to watch on my laptop.

I think I'm happier, not just because of winning Grammys and selling records, but because it's really fulfilling to have all these things happen with something you love to do.

Well, what's interesting, I try not to think about the radio when I'm writing a song. I want people to love the song, and that means it might not be exactly thinking about the radio, but it's thinking about your audience and saying, 'I want people to like this song after it's done.'

We weren't allowed to have secular music in the house growing up. I was home-schooled, and gospel was the only choice we had.

I've been wanting to work with her ever since. It's great to see that wish finally come true.

The ride for me has been good so far. I am blessed, because I enjoy doing what I am doing,

Thanks to the fans and all the people in radio who believed in what we were doing, because it didn't sound like anything else and we made it a hit.

Now I'll take my top shirt off and have a tank top on at the show, so I'm definitely playing the sex angle up a little bit. I have a lot of female fans, I've gotta give them what they want.

Anybody under the age of forty knows hip-hop, gospel and R&B pretty well, and it's all a part of what we consider to be 'black music.' There is a natural synergy between the three.

At work, you want to stand out but not in extra-funky ways. At the core, it's about dressing for girls - who are most of my fans - and you want to dress up for them. You just want to feel like you're on top of your game.

The most I ever spent on technology is building a studio - I built one at home in Los Angeles. I can't tell you how much exactly, but the whole process is very expensive.

Everyone I know who'd been (there) said (South Africa) was beautiful, the people were beautiful, and it was a nice mixture of Africa and Western culture. I knew from friends that my music was popular (there), so I was excited to go.

It's been good. I mean, I can't complain about anything.

I'm really excited to have Ms. Hill on the track. She's truly a genius. The first time I ever appeared on a major album was when I played piano on 'Everything Is Everything' from 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.' I have been wanting to work with her again ever since. It's great to see that wish finally come true.

I'm really excited to have Ms. Hill on the track, ... She's truly a genius. The first time I ever appeared on a major album was when I played piano on 'Everything Is Everything' from 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.' I have been wanting to work with her again ever since. It's great to see that wish finally come true.

I'm really excited to have Ms. Hill on the track, ... She's truly a genius. The first time I ever appeared on a major album was when I played piano on 'Everything Is Everything' from 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.' I have been wanting to work with her again ever since. It's great to see that wish finally come true.

I'm really excited to have Ms. Hill on the track.

I kept it and I'm glad I kept it. Because they've got enough hits.

I'm truly humbled that you chose me for this.

You know, my family is very musical, I was surrounded by it. And from four years old I was the one that asked my mother could I take piano lessons.

The first time I ever appeared on a major album was when I played piano on 'Everything Is Everything' from 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,' ... I have been wanting to work with her again ever since.

For me, no matter how much money you want to make off of singing, no matter what kind of fame you want to make, achieve, the most important thing to me is making music that you're proud of, making music that comes from you, comes from an authentic place in you.

You believe in equality for women and men. And that means that, not only do you believe in it kind of in the abstract but you actively think people should seek it when it comes to the way you hire people, the way you compensate people, the way you treat women and men in professional settings and school, whatever the case, giving them equal opportunities without disadvantaging them because of their, for the fact that they're women. And to me that's what it means for me to be a feminist. I don't think it's that controversial.

Some people, you know, should just go to college and do what they do and have a great job and not worry about trying to be famous as a singer. It's not for everyone.

Even if you can sing or even if you can write a song, it takes a lot of determination, it takes some kind of thick skin, because you got to persevere despite the fact that people tell you you shouldn't do this or you shouldn't do that or you're not good enough or your style's too different. I've heard all of that stuff.

No matter how big or successful and famous you become, if you do that, that's the most fulfilling thing, is making music that you love and that you're proud of.

Every artist wants some sort of feedback, because you make this music and you hope people love it and you want to hear if they love it and what they love about it, what their favorite song is, what they think the next single should be. I like to hear those things.

Music, to me, if it's good, it's good. That's all that matters.

I believed in myself and I am a firm believer you have to think the things you want and visualize.

I like songs that have like a little bit of quirkiness to them. What I like to do with songs, is kind of throw a little curveball in the lyrics or in the arrangement, to kind of give it a little twist to it.

Critics like to describe and categorize things, and categories often have a way of limiting people.

I do speak to kids a lot. I am very clear with them that not all of them should aspire to be me and not all of them should be aspire to be LeBron.

There's so much music out there, and so many different styles that I've been influenced by, so each album reflects some of that knowledge or influence that I've had.

The fun part about collaborating is that you naturally just bounce off each other's energy and learn off each other.

I feel like my job is to make impact, spread love, tell great stories, inspire people, that's what I am going to do.

I just want my music to measure up to. Part of it's just thinking about my place in history and how this music is going to be perceived, if it's listened to 30, 40 years from now.

My mother, I want her to like my music, but she's not exactly my target audience. So I care more about the fans in general, just making sure they enjoy what I do.

I've written good love songs when I have been in love and I've written good love songs when I haven't.

I do believe that part of us ending racism is us seeing each other's humanity and learning to love each other, even if we look different or worship differently or live differently.

I've always followed politics, and I think politics is everybody's business because we're electing someone who's going to be making important decisions that will affect all of our lives.

Music was my life...It was everything to me, even though I was in school majoring in English. I was still very focused on music and always finding ways to perform, so that was what set me up to want to become a recording artist.

I gravitate toward people that are a little more outrageous than I am. And we complement each other well.

I don't think I'm craving any more fame. But success and being recognized for making great work all around the world, I think it's a great thing.

I think it's hard to really write a song that will educate someone because songs are meant to be ... you don't want to be too didactic in a song because it doesn't make for good music. And I think the role of songs can be to inspire people but there needs to education and prose to back that up.

I think it's a bit of a myth that black Americans need one leader. We're not a monolith. And now that legal segregation and discrimination has been pretty much abolished there isn't the sort of universal mandate that a black leader would have. Black folks live in a wide variety of social situations right now.

I used read about Dr. King a lot as a kid. Independently, from being assigned it or being told by my parents or anything, I was just really excited about him. So I just started reading about him very young and was inspired by his legacy and looked to him as a role model.

Music wasn't forced on me [in my childhood]. It was something I wanted to do. And ever since, I've never stopped, I've never stopped playing music.

There's a lot of hurry up and wait. But it gives you time to write a song.

Sometimes I just think people are haters. And if they're haters, you can listen to what they have to say but you have to take it with a grain of salt.

If a few people decide not to buy my album it's really not going to change my life that much.

You can always find a stray negative comment on the Internet. It's like everybody loves to put negative comments on the Internet under the cloak of anonymity.

I know when things feel a little, like, intrusive and when they don't. I don't have a lot to hide. But I do sometimes think, don't share everything.

Some of them [family names] have sentimental value for some reason or another, some of them just sound beautiful. Some of them are because of people that are meaningful to us in our lives. So it's hard to say which one we'll pick. Sometimes they say you have to see the child before you decide. So maybe when we see her we'll make a last-second decision.

We want to do things that are interesting, great storytelling, some of it is gonna be more fun and funny, some of it is more serious and talking about interesting issues that we think are provocative and interesting to us. Kind of on a more political level. But, you know, just things that we find interesting that we think stories that need to be told.

I don't love the idea of three superstars coming together to form a dream team, I'd rather teams are built more organically, just as a fan it's more interesting to see.

I don't really marinate in anybody's album because I don't really want to sound like anybody else when I put my album out. So I'd rather not even be tempted to listen to a bunch of other stuff with any degree of emersion in it, cause I just don't want to sound like anything else, so I kinda focus on my own music.

Anybody under the age of forty knows hip-hop, gospel and R&B pretty well, and it's all a part of what we consider to be 'black music.' There is a natural synergy between the three.

That's the evergreen nature of a great song. They can be resurrected. They can be covered. They can find new relevance due to changing circumstances in history.

I think people relate to the music because I have a sense of empathy, and I think I have a good understanding about relationships, and I talk about them in a real, honest way

I like cool jackets - a nice fall or winter coat. You can get a lot of use out of it, and you'll wear it frequently, so it can really set the tone of your uniform for the season.

Well, I was always a bit of a political junkie. Even as a kid I would read biographies of presidents and of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King and Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington.

I listen to all those kinds of music, from classic soul to hip-hop to Brazilian music to, you know, jazz to indie to alternative. So whatever. I listen to all if it. Classic rock and classic pop, all of that.

The main focus for me is not trying to find duet partners. It's about just making great songs. I want most of my album to be in my voice, because it's my point of view.

I don't like going to football games. I like watching them on television. When you go to a game, it's hard to focus. There's so much going on, and it's cold. I'd rather sit and watch it and get replays and commentary.

Well, I like songs that have like a little bit of quirkiness to them.

Sometimes I start just on the piano with a melody or musical idea that kind of leads me to certain lyrics.

All men should be feminists. If men cared about women's rights, the world would be a better place

The weirdest thing about Hillary Clinton's email 'scandal' is finding out some of our senators still don't use email.

I was in an a cappella group in school, so it particularly helped me keep my piano chops up.

I care more about the fans in general, just making sure they enjoy what I do. And then also I kind of had this kind of ideal of the kind of music I want to make and what I'm aiming for kind of creatively and just the quality of the music that I'm trying to make. And I have that in my head.

But in my mind I've always been a solo artist- I've just been working with a lot of great people like Kanye and Alicia Keys and Jay-Z.

I feel like spirituality definitely comes through in my music, but I don't make any specific efforts to make it that way.

I have a great band, with very talented players, and we give everything we have every night.