91k Mos Quotes

Why did one straw break the camel's back?
Here's the secret:
The million other straws underneath it. ~ Mos Def

MOS: And besides, sir, You are not like a thresher that doth stand With a huge flail, watching a heap of corn, And, hungry, dares not taste the smallest grain, But feeds on mallows, and such bitter herbs; Nor like the merchant, who hath fill'd his vaults With Romagnia, and rich Candian wines, Yet drinks the lees of Lombard's vinegar: You will not lie in straw, whilst moths and worms Feed on your sumptuous hangings and soft beds; You know the use of riches, and dare give now From that bright heap, to me, your poor observer, Or to your dwarf, or your hermaphrodite, Your eunuch, or what other household-trifle Your pleasure allows maintenance. ~ Ben Jonson

Every disciple is a believer, but not every believer is necessarily a disciple. Anything short of discipleship, however, is settling for less than what God really desires for us.

Loving God more than anyone or anything else is the very foundation of being a disciple. If you want to live your Christian life to its fullest, then love Jesus more than anyone or anything else.

Either you will have harmony with God and friction with people, or you will have harmony with people and friction with God.

You become a disciple in the biblical sense only when you are totally and completely committed to Jesus Christ and His Word.

As a true disciple, your life won't only be characterized by practical results and a hunger for Scripture, but you also will have love for others - especially fellow believers. Without all of these characteristics, you can't really claim to be His disciple.

A person who has been with Jesus will boldly share his or her faith.

A person who has been with Jesus will be a person of prayer.

A person who has been with Jesus will be persecuted.

If for you, the Christian life is all about feeling good and having everything go your way, then you won't like being a disciple. Being a follower of Christ is the most joyful and exciting life there is. But it also can be the most challenging life there is. It's a life lived out under the command of someone other than yourself.

Mos ~ Greg Laurie

If you're going to do Chuck Berry, you got to, you know, go all out, and the duck walk is just kind of you know, cursory. That's like standing. ~ Mos Def

There was a time when hip-hop was its own musical principle, aside from sampling. Like the entire Wild Style break is instrumental. Kurtis Blow's earliest stuff was studio musicians playing. Whodini had a real clear sound, things like "five minutes of funk," stuff that you could write really beautiful, lush string and horn arrangements around, stuff that was just music. ~ Mos Def

I never had any ambitions of being a movie star or anything like that, but you know, this is nice. ~ Mos Def

Katrina held Bram in her arms, speaking softly, reassuringly, as they approached baby Modoc.
This was an important moment, a beginning, for she knew the boy would spend his life with animals, especially elephants, and the meeting was of utmost importance. Neither the elephant nor the baby said a word. All was quiet as they looked at each other. Mo's small trunk wormed its way up, reaching to the baby. As Bram leaned over, his little hand pulled loose from Katrina's grasp found its way down toward the trunk. A finger extended to meet the tip of the trunk. Bram's expression was one of curiosity; he felt the wet tip, Modoc moved her "finger" all around Bram's hand, sliding it across each finger and the palm. A big tickle grin spread across Bram's face, Modoc did her elephant "chirp," a tear glistened as it ran down Katrina's face. All was well. The future had been written. ~ Ralph Helfer

I don't care about what brand you are, I'm concerned what type of man you are, what your principles and standards are. ~ Mos Def

I stretched my arms towards the sky like blades of tall grass
The sun beat between my shoulders like carnival drums
I sat still in hopes that it would help my wings grow
So then I could really be fly
And then she arrived
Like day break inside a railway tunnel
Like the new moon, like a diamond in the mines
Like high noon to a drunkard, sudden
She made my heart beat in a now-now time signature
Her skinny canvas for ultraviolet brushstrokes
She was the sun's painting
She was a deep cognac color
Her eyes sparkled like lights along the new city
She lips pursed as if her breath was too sweet
And full for her mouth to hold
I said, "You are the beautiful, the stress of mathematics."
I said, "For you, I would peel open the clouds like new fruit
And give you lightning and thunder as a dowry
I would make the sky shed all of it's stars, light and rain
And I would clasp the constellations across your waist
And I would make the heavens your cape
And they would be pleased to cover you
They would be pleased to cover you
May I please, cover you, please ~ Mos Def

It's possible and available to any artist to be himself or herself on their own terms, to be accepted and embraced by black people. You don't have to be a thug to get love from black people. ~ Mos Def

The thing that give me the mos' trouble was, it didn't make no sense. You don't look for no sense when lightnin' kill a cow, or it comes up a lood. That's jus' the way things is. But when a bunch of men take an' lock you up four years, it ought to have some meaning. Men is supposed to think things out. Here they put me in an' keep me an' feed me four years. That ought to either make me so I won't do her again or else punish me so I'll be afraid to do her again ~ John Steinbeck

Hip-hop is a beautiful culture. It's inspirational, because it's a culture of survivors. You can create beauty out of nothingness. ~ Mos Def

You can positively affect and change a social circumstance with art, and it's vital that a change happens now. ~ Mos Def

I'm blacked than midnight on Broadway and Myrtle ~ Mos Def

People consider Black Star a great album, and I think it's a classic album. But the fact is, both me and Mos Def have made better albums since Black Star. ~ Talib Kweli

Arguably the mos intriguing characteristic assessed by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), a widely used test developed by the University of Minnesota's eminent psychologist Auke Tellegen, is "absorption," which describes a particular style of focusing. If you get a high score in this trait, you're naturally inclined toward what he calls a "respondent" or "experiential" way of focusing. ~ Winifred Gallagher

I believe the projects were a social experiment; we were laboratory rats stacked on top of each other, and people just knew, inherently, that there was something wrong. There's not a lot of regard for the property by the residents. ~ Mos Def

It's one thing to be the greatest; it's another thing to be necessary. The best are the most necessary: those who take less than they give and love more than they hate. ~ Mos Def

I was taught when there's somethin' you can change around keep quiet, you got nothin' to complain about. ~ Mos Def

I thought everybody got into rock 'n' roll because they didn't want to follow instructions. ~ Mos Def

We blasted holes in the night until she bled sunshine ~ Mos Def

I don't want to waste anyone's time or money. I want to give people some truth and positive heart lift. ~ Mos Def

So rather than really have, like a close relationship to anything that's coming out today, people are just, they've got it on as background music. It's kind of the same way the cabdrivers use music; it's very disposable. But, that doesn't mean there aren't a great number of artists who are doing things to change that. ~ Mos Def

I have mad brims. ~ Mos Def

I fell in love with you when you crashed into my fence post and chased after my chickens and fell down in the mud with the pigs. I fell in love with you when you taught everyone in town to line dance. I fell in love with you when you put Mo's feelings before your own and stayed with her for as long as she needed you." One fat tear slid down her cheek as he said, "And, most of all, I fell in love with you when you showed me that it was safe to love again. I keep falling in love with you again and again. Just like I'm falling right this second. ~ Bella Andre

I'm retiring the Mos Def name after 2011. I'm actually doing it. ~ Mos Def

I tell people all the time, I've always loved music and I love the language, which is a huge reason why I'm part of theater. But, I didn't wanna do all of this. I would've been satisfied to do it, like, on the weekends among friends, and to have a regular job. ~ Mos Def

And remember don't high post when you're far from home, and high posting when you're all alone. ~ Mos Def

I can't control what people think. I'm not trying to manipulate people's thoughts or sentiments. I write all the time. You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions. It's machine-like how things are run now in hip-hop, and my ambitions are different. ~ Mos Def

Mos Def is one of the most creative, intelligent human beings I've had the opportunity to work with. He is fun. The entire time, he would go in and out of different characters, just for the fun of it. Awesome energy. ~ Jill Scott

I can't take it y'all
I can feel the city breathin
Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening
Sigh before we die like the last train leaving ~ Mos Def

Good art provides people with a vocabulary about things they can't articulate. ~ Mos Def

I met Mos Def around that time but I didn't hook up with him until I was about 17 or 18. ~ Talib Kweli