Mickalene Thomas Quotes

'Postcards' was just a way of slapping myself in the face and saying, 'You can do anything! Just go for it!'

I just believe that the interesting time in a career is pre-success, what shaped things, how did you get to this point.

Follow your image as far as you can no matter how useless you think it is. Push yourself.

When you believe in what you're doing and use your imagination and initiative, you can make a difference.

I didn't have any great talent. I didn't want to become a rock star or an author.

Whatever that means, however you got on that mountain, why not try to climb it? And do it in your own way.

You can't let regret stifle your creativity.

I made a promise to be as creative as I could, even outside of music.

I just want to keep working hard. I just want to keep improving myself. And I just want to prove people that I can play in the real game.

When I did make the decision to focus on acting, I think my mother was just relieved for me that I had finally started to focus.

Believe deep down in your heart that you're destined to do great things.

Follow your own star!

Well, I made an announcement to my family at 8 that I wanted to be an actor, and I focused like a laser beam on it. I never had a fallback plan.

I think I was, like, maybe frustrated for many years because I didn't try to direct. And since I made my movie I'm just like, 'It's great.'

Without my music, no doors would have opened, so I am forever grateful, and I am always going to be singing. But yeah, when the other doors open, why not walk through?

I could have easily been too afraid to say 'yes' to Chicago, because it requires so much I haven't done before. If I am a flop at singing and dancing, maybe my love for it will carry me through.

You can't just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You've got to get out there and make it happen for yourself.

Don't be a victim; if you want to make movies, make movies.

The best thing about Berlin was that I got to be surrounded by people who pursue their ideas for themselves.

I just wanted to act. I didn't want to do anything else.

I would hear stories about Steve Jobs and feel like he was at 100 percent exactly what he wanted to do, but I'm sure even a Steve Jobs has compromised. Even a Rick Owens has compromised. You know, even a Kanye West has compromised. Sometimes you don't even know when you're being compromised till after the fact, and that's what you regret.

What drives me now is the fact that I feel like I still have so many tricks that I want to learn and so many things that I can still do. And so many cool things outside of sports that I have been doing.

At 17, I realized that it's going to be a tough decision to make, but I had the clarity of thought to walk out of cricket and try my luck in acting.

If you do something, you should do it because you love it, and you should follow your heart and make it how your heart wants it to be made. But it's a difficult world, especially for musicians.

Being from a small town, no one else was going to breathe life into my ideas other than me, so I had to go out there and do it.