Foregrounds Def Quotes

I get reminded a lot of the time that my life is a little bit different, but I'm just trying to keep it as regular as possible because I like it that way. ~ Mos Def

My presence speaks volumes before I say a word. ~ Mos Def

As soon as the doors were closed, Amelia went to her sister with her hands raised. At first Cam thought she intended to shake her, but instead Amelia pulled Beatrix close, her shoulders trembling. She could barely breathe for laughing.
"Bea ... you did it on purpose, didn't you? ... I couldn't believe my eyes ... that blasted lizard running along the table ... "
"I had to do something," the girl explained in a muffled voice. "Leo was behaving badly - I didn't understand what he was saying, but I saw Lord Westcliff's face - "
"Oh ... oh ... " Amelia choked with giggles. "Poor Westcliff ... one moment he's def-fending the local population from Leo's tyranny, and then Spot comes s-slithering past the bread plates ... "
"Where is Spot?" Twisting away from her sister, Beatrix approached Cam, who deposited the lizard in her outstretched palms. "Thank you, Mr. Rohan. You have very quick hands."
"So I've been told." He smiled at her. ~ Lisa Kleypas

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

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

The test in life nowadays is just trying to keep yourself charged up with enough good feeling. It's like, "OK what am I going to do to feel really good today?" Not like, some chick or a drink ... ~ Mos Def

I'm just an artist and I'm doin' what I like to do. ~ Mos Def

I signed to Def Jam and within two months, I heard that Ja Rule was looking for someone to do a song with. ~ Christina Milian

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

To live with tremendous and proud composure; always beyond - . To have and not to have one's affects, one's pro and con, at will; to condescend to them, for a few hours; to seat oneself on them as on a horse, often as on an ass - for one must know how to make use of their stupidity as much as of their fire. To reserve one's three hundred foregrounds; also the dark glasses; for there are cases when nobody may look into our eyes, still less into our "grounds." And to choose for company that impish and cheerful vice, courtesy. And to remain master of one's four virtues: of courage, insight, sympathy, and solitude. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

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

Historically, precollege education has focused on educating for the known, the tried and true, the established canon. This made very good sense in the many periods and places where most children's lives were likely to be more or less like their parents' lives. However, wagering that tomorrow will be pretty much like yesterday does not seem to be a very good bet today. Perhaps we need a different vision of education, a vision that foregrounds educating for the unknown as much as for the known. Perhaps we need a vision of education that's more "future wise," reflecting our best guesses about what's most likely to happen and foregrounding flexible knowledge likely to inform whatever does happen. ~ David Perkins

And from the moment that I saw you, I knew you was trouble,
But I disregarded detour signs,
And did not stop til you was mine.
I guess God was like, 'Aight, fine.'
Careful what you wish for, cause you just might get it in heaps.
Try to give it back, He be like, 'Nah, that's yours to keep.' ~ Mos Def

Make today's solid ground out of yesterday's quicksand. ~ Mos Def

Why do I need ID to get ID?
If I had ID, I wouldn't need ID. ~ 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

It's difficult to really be an artist nowadays. People are just on another page. You have a society that needs you to say something, but they don't want to give you the environment to be able to be just a functioning, happy, normal person. It's like, the industry is at odds with you, the society is at odds with you. You start to live in this very confined box where it's like, It's "me" and "them." ~ Mos Def

This thing called rhymin' is no different than coal minin';
We both on assignment to unearth the diamond. ~ Mos Def

My comedy has no color, it's for everybody, black, white, Latino, Asian. It's not a pro-black show, not a def jam show; it's just straight, wholesome type of humor. ~ Bruce Bruce

Live now for the promise of the Infinite ~ Mos Def

Bob Marley performed the 'One Love Peace' concert in Jamaica with the two different warring political sides. There's always been that in black music and culture in general. It's no surprise because black music is such a reflection of what's going on in black life. It's not unusual for hip-hop. ~ Mos Def

That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind. ~ Mos Def

My radio's loud like a fire alarm:
The floor vibrates, the walls cave in,
The bass makes my eardrums seem thin.
Def sounds in my ride, yes the front and back ...
You would think it was a party, not a Cadillac! ~ LL Cool J

Man, I smashed her like an Idaho Potato ~ Mos Def

Ten Best Song to Strip
1. Any hip-swiveling R&B fuckjam. This category includes The Greatest Stripping Song of All Time: "Remix to Ignition" by R. Kelly.

2. "Purple Rain" by Prince, but you have to be really theatrical about it. Arch your back like Prince himself is daubing body glitter on your abdomen. Most effective in nearly empty, pathos-ridden juice bars.

3. "Honky Tonk Woman" by the Rolling Stones. Insta-attitude. Makes even the clumsiest troglodyte strut like Anita Pallenberg. (However, the Troggs will make you look like even more of a troglodyte, so avoid if possible.)

4. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard. The Lep's shouted choruses and relentless programmed drums prove ideal for chicks who can really stomp. (Coincidence: I once saw a stripper who, like Rick Allen, had only one arm.)

5. "Amber" by 311. This fluid stoner anthem is a favorite of midnight tokers at strip joints everywhere. Mellow enough that even the most shitfaced dancer can make it through the song and back to her Graffix bong without breaking a sweat. Pass the Fritos Scoops, dude.

6. "Miserable" by Lit, but mostly because Pamela Anderson is in the video, and she's like Jesus for strippers (blonde, plastic, capable of parlaying a broken nail into a domestic battery charge, damaged liver). Alos, you can't go wrong stripping to a song that opens with the line "You make me come."

7. "Back Door Man" by The Doors. Almost too eas ~ Diablo Cody

Breathe in ... inhale vapors from bright stars that shine,
Breathe out ... weed smoke retrace the skyline. ~ Mos Def

The world has wanted me to speak differently than I speak. I speak like my mom. I speak like the whitest white dude. I speak like a "Def Comedy Jam" comedian doing an impression of a white guy. ~ Jordan Peele

My Umi said shine your light on the world, shine your light for the world to see ~ Mos Def

My foregrounds are imaginary, my backgrounds real. ~ Gustave Flaubert

It wouldn't be fair to cast aspersions on an entire cultural movement based on the actions of a few. To quote my grandfather, 'One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch.' ~ Mos Def