The Art & Science of Respect: A Memoir by James Prince

by James Prince

When you have money in the hood, everyone tests you. They’re either asking for money or they’re trying to take it. So I became a savage. Numb.

And I was willing to die for it. I distanced myself, only hanging around people who were as savage as I was.

Money. Ahhhh, it felt good not being broke. And it set me apart, because the people I was hanging around were always broke. I was addicted to the feeling of freedom.

Hustling is an addiction too. Whether you’re selling or using, it’s the same.

before You take my life or take my freedom, give me a sign.

The hardest part is staying focused even when everything else around you is in chaos.

It’s interesting when your reality offends someone else’s idea of what your reality should be.

I’ve learned that America is okay with us living in these conditions, as long as the rest of them don’t have to hear about it.

I had to rely on my faith and my work ethic.

He knew he hadn’t been fair in our past business dealings. But now he also knew what happens when you back me into a corner.

That’s why it’s important to always be successful. Success isn’t just about income; success is also about having options.

I played my hand the best I could and now the rest was up to God.

I didn’t have the same business background as my peers, there were invaluable skills I possessed that could’ve only come from the streets.

But for most of them, it wasn’t about the money. It was about loyalty.

“In this business, there are really special deals that come across the table once in a lifetime. When these types of deals reveal themselves, you waste no time in closing them.” He looked at me and added, “I feel this is one of those special deals.”

Fortune favors

the bold, so never be afraid to stick your neck out on your own behalf.

So I finessed the situation - through a female.

I’m simply saying that in my life, having seen this country use my tax dollars to go to war against me, voting is not something I’m led to do.

Addiction is a sad and dangerous thing.

Staying in the company of people who aren’t doing much limits your network.

It’s easy to get caught up in the undisciplined life and before you know it, opportunities will pass you by.

To find success, you have to know your craft, know your skill, and know your faith.

Even if you have to downsize and sell off everything you have, your lawyer is the very last thing you’d let go of.

Once you have your ride-or-die producer and a masterful attorney, you need the largest piece of the puzzle: a superstar.

That’s how it was for me on the block when I was growing up; somebody would constantly want to fuck with me over and over again. They’ll size you up, from the girls you date to your swagger.

“You have no idea how brilliant you are.” They just have to apply the same energy that they’re applying in the streets. They have a lot of advantages and don’t even know it. They haven’t been brainwashed by the system, so their risk tolerance is higher.

A wise man is quick to listen and slow to speak.

If you square up with me, I’ma look at you with more respect.”

I believe that a man who can admit

when he’s wrong is someone you can halfway trust moving forward. But a man who continues lying can’t be trusted, and ...

When you’re committed to something, you believe in it so strongly you’re willing to die for it. And anybody who doesn’t have something worth dying for isn’t really living.

I believe more is caught then taught, so I was an example by action.

But before then, as a parent, I felt that it was my responsibility to protect their minds and their hearts until they were mature enough to really dissect and digest it.

Over the years it’s been a blessing and a curse.

I believe that to whom much is given, much is required.

No one owes anyone anything, that’s the thing. I never felt obligated to care for my family or friends, I just give from the heart out of love.

Thanks for being an example of unconditional love and loving me as if I was your own child.

Even when I was dead wrong, you encouraged me by making me give my word to “never do it again,” which was more effective than traditional discipline.

All I would say to myself is, I want a wife like Pat someday.

The race is not given to the swift nor the strong, but unto them that endure to the end. - Ecclesiastes 9:11