Nakia > Nakia's Quotes

“Baby, when everything and everyone is telling you that you can't do something, there's still a way. When you get to the crossroads and start feeling like you can do it, but you can't figure out what's next, I want you to whisper this to yourself: Patricia Blackstock Johnson. I want you to remember that if Tab's mama can put a pencil in her mouth to hit record on her tape recorder, what can you not do? Where there's a will, there's a way. All you have to do is have the willpower to keep going. Even when it looks like it's going to be over or the storm is too powerful, honey, stay in a state of gratitude. Give God praise in advance.”
― Tabitha Brown, Feeding the Soul (Because It's My Business): Finding Our Way to Joy, Love, and Freedom

“We don’t know enough about ourselves. I think it’s better to know that you don’t know, that way you can grow with the mystery as the mystery grows in you. But, these days, of course, everybody knows everything, that’s why so many people are so lost.”
― James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk

“If you want to change the world… be your very best in the darkest moments.”
― William H. McRaven, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Fonny liked me so much that it didn't occur to him that he loved me. I liked him so much that no other boy was real to me. I didn't see them. I didn't know what this meant. But the waiting moment, which had spied us on the road, and which was waiting for us, knew.”
― James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk

“Just because you see me out in my dress smiling doesn’t mean I’m not hurting, or that I didn’t want to sleep in. It means that despite everything I still showed up.”
― Tabitha Brown, Feeding the Soul (Because It's My Business): Finding Our Way to Joy, Love, and Freedom

“I logged in and created content everyday for two years. No days off. I was driven by my passion but also my obedience to God, who said that I was doing this for a purpose. God was trying to show me something, and in order for me to see, I had to do my part. My part was being consistent.”
― Tabitha Brown, Feeding the Soul (Because It's My Business): Finding Our Way to Joy, Love, and Freedom

“When I’m having one of those moments when I don’t want to do something, I remind myself that there was a time when I couldn’t do it. The blessing is in the fact that you still get to do it.”
― Tabitha Brown, Feeding the Soul (Because It's My Business): Finding Our Way to Joy, Love, and Freedom

“Our goal, which we believed to be honorable and noble, gave us courage. And courage is a remarkable quality. Nothing and nobody can stand in your way. Without it, others will define your path forward. Without it, you are at the mercy of life's temptations. Without courage, men will be ruled by tyrants and despots. Without courage, no great society can flourish. Without courage, the bullies of the world rise up. With it, you can accomplish any goal. With it, you can defy and defeat evil.”
― William H. McRaven, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World

“Why is it we spend so much of our time preparing for when we can do what we want, instead of just doing those things now?”
― John P. Strelecky, The Cafe on the Edge of the World: A Story About the Meaning of Life

“Why are you here? Do you fear death? Are you fulfilled?”
― John Strelecky, The Cafe on the Edge of the World: A Story About the Meaning of Life

“Much like nature, life is very often working in our favor, even when it seems like we are only being faced with adversity, discomfort, and change.”
― Brianna Wiest, The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery

“Likewise, our ability to feel the depth and beauty of life is capable of expanding forever inward if we are willing to take our problems and see them as catalysts.”
― Brianna Wiest, The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery

“To have a mountain in front of you does not mean you are fundamentally broken in some way. Everything in nature is imperfect, and it is because of that imperfection that growth is possible.”
― Brianna Wiest, The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery

“Without breaks, faults, and gaps, nothing could grow and nothing would become.”
― Brianna Wiest, The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery

“[A woman] will need to prize her tenderness and be able to display it at appropriate times in order to prevent toughness from gaining total authority and to avoid becoming a mirror image of those men who value power above life, and control over love.”
― Maya Angelou, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now

“I thought of something he would sometimes say to himself and to others: “My belief is stronger than your doubt.” He usually said this when he was counted out after an injury, or walking away from a deal everyone thought he was crazy to turn away.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“I am continually awed by the honor and responsibility of raising free Black girls. May you each embrace your vulnerability as your superpower, and may I not falter as I attempt to lead by example.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“I let her tell me who she was. I listened to her, even before she had words.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“When you acknowledge that your vulnerability does not absolve anyone of personal accountability, you will heal from those traumas faster and more fully.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
― Representative John Lewis

“When I was a little girl, my mother always told me that if I ever got lost in a big city, "Look for the rainbow flag." She believed in the goodness of the LGBTQ+ community, and knew there would be protection and direction there. I always found this to be true.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?