Jay-Z Quotes

If only for the sake of elegance, I try to remain morally pure.

The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.

No more duty can be urged upon those who are entering the great theater of life than simple loyalty to their best convictions.

Piety requires us to honor truth above our friends.

I have to be honest with myself, and make sure I am doing things the right way.

A big part of honesty is self-discipline, personal resolve, and taking pride in who you are as a person and what each action means to your character.

I've never lost a friend over work. I come from a small-town environment and I remember my childhood impressions that, if you were a conniver or a fink or whatever, everybody knew about it and you were a louse for the rest of your life. So I never lost those values in some way.

Never give nor take an excuse.

Think nothing profitable to you which compels you to break a promise, to lose your self respect, to hate any person, to curse, to act the hypocrite.

Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light or look the world in the face.

Honesty, willingness to exert oneself, friendship - all these things shaped me too.

sometimes it's okay to cheat on things - but don't ever cheat on people. because once you start, it's very hard to stop. you find out how easy it is to do.

Never lie; never cheat; never steal. Don't whine; don't complain; don't make excuses.

You can never ask others to do something you would not do. That is integrity.

Where both are friends, it is right to prefer truth.

Let us strive for personal, practical integrity in every endeavor, regardless of how mundane or inconsequential it may seem.

Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.

Your character holds the key to your trustworthiness.

You know, at the end of the day, the only thing you have is trust and honor in this world. That's all you have. All you have is your reputation built on trust and your personal honor. When you don't have that anymore, well, you know, there you go. Trust was broken.

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

Throughout my life, I have always tried to do what is right.

Today, the biggest challenge we must meet is the one we present to ourselves. To not become a nation that places entitlement ahead of accomplishment. To not become a country that places comfortable lies ahead of difficult truths. To not become a people that thinks so little of ourselves that we demand no sacrifice from each other.

My character has always been important to me. That was the one thing that I knew, no matter what, I had to hold that strong.

A man should be upright, not be kept upright.

I learned one thing in Watergate: I was well-intentioned but rationalized illegal behavior. You cannot live your life other than walking in the truth. Your means are as important as your ends.