John Legend quotes:

John Legend is a nickname that some friends started calling me, and it kind of grew into my stage name.

In the 1970s, for all the Stevie Wonders, I'm sure there were five artists that were making forgettable music.

I used to work for a management consulting company, so I dressed differently - business casual, probably a lot of things from Banana Republic. My wardrobe now is definitely more expensive, but I always dress for the occasion.

Experience is a great teacher.

Sometimes there's that perfect moment when the crowd, the music, the energy of the room come together in a way that brings me to tears.

I was a busy kid in high school - a little bit of an overachiever, I guess. Prom king was kind of silly, but the rest of the stuff was important to me.

I'm honestly not a great gift giver. I could give better - my girlfriends have always complained about that.

As a young black boy, it made me proud to see black leaders that did something amazing and made the world change.

I listen to all those kinds of music, from classic soul to hip-hop to Brazilian music to, you know, jazz to indie to alternative. So whatever. I listen to all if it. Classic rock and classic pop, all of that.

The most I ever spent on technology is building a studio - I built one at home in Los Angeles. I can't tell you how much exactly, but the whole process is very expensive.

I'm trying to be me and embrace all the parts of me that have grown up, listened to more music and soaked up more influences.

Musicians are in-season all the time.

To have the chance to see your music be elevated and to have almost universally positive response to that music, makes me feel better every day. I feel more confident and inspired, and that's fun.

I don't actually go to a lot of games because I think football on TV is better. Even though I'm pretty busy, I watch 90 percent of Ohio State's games.

I don't get to listen to music for fun very often; a lot of what I'm hearing is for work and isn't released yet.

I'm craving more soul, I'm craving more truth, I'm craving more socially - just people that are aware of what's going on in the world.

We weren't allowed to have secular music in the house growing up. I was home-schooled, and gospel was the only choice we had.

It's really about making the best music you can make. It's really about working hard.

Well, Jeff Buckley for me is one of the greatest singers I've ever heard. And the reason why is he has an amazing range, amazing emotional power in his voice. And the music he put around it also just had this passion and this soul to it and this spirit to it that very few artists have, and he passed at a very young age.

My first album, 'Get Lifted,' was a hip-hop soul album that had some of its roots in the church, as far as the sonic choices, in the way that I sing and write songs. I have always had that as part of my background and part of my influence when I am making music.

At the end of the day, there's only a few major stars in the music business, and then there's all these people that are aspiring to be that.

As a politician, you have to deal with someone wanting you to fail every day. I think I prefer being in a situation where generally people are rooting for me, and if they aren't rooting for me, they aren't out there to see my downfall. I respect the people who have the stomach for it.

Anybody under the age of forty knows hip-hop, gospel and R&B pretty well, and it's all a part of what we consider to be 'black music.' There is a natural synergy between the three.

In my neighborhood in Springfield, Ohio, there were a lot of young kids. We all played tackle football after school, but I knew very early on that I was not an athlete.

The most important thing about technology is that it can seamlessly work its way into your routine and your life.

Some people start with the lyrics first because they know what they want to talk about and they just write a whole bunch of lyrical ideas, but for me the music tells me what to talk about.

I don't like going to football games. I like watching them on television. When you go to a game, it's hard to focus. There's so much going on, and it's cold. I'd rather sit and watch it and get replays and commentary.

London is a good fashion city. They're a little more daring. There's the element of the aristocracy, which is always interesting.

Soul is about authenticity. Soul is about finding the things in your life that are real and pure.

I think they need to get a more reliable way of watching television on the laptop. Because I travel so much, if I want to watch my favorite sports team it might not be showing in that place, so I want a reliable way to watch whatever I want to watch on my laptop.

I always saw myself as a singer-songwriter, a solo-artist, that's why working with other artists was never satisfying for me.

In terms of the technology I use the most, it's probably a tie between my Blackberry and my MacBook Pro laptop. That's how I communicate with the rest of the world and how I handle all the business I have to handle.

My first attempt at a kiss was in fifth grade, but it didn't go so well. Later, I used Boyz II Men and Jodeci songs to come on to girls. I had more success.

I think writers are prone to hyperbole sometimes.

Well, I was always a bit of a political junkie. Even as a kid I would read biographies of presidents and of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King and Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington.

I think the most important thing is that I'm making music that the people enjoy. So the fans, the people that are out there listening to music and consuming music, I want them to enjoy it and love it. And so that's more important to me than Grammys.

I like songs that have like a little bit of quirkiness to them. What I like to do with songs, is kind of throw a little curveball in the lyrics or in the arrangement, to kind of give it a little twist to it.

I don't love the idea of three superstars coming together to form a dream team, I'd rather teams are built more organically, just as a fan it's more interesting to see.

Witnessing the extreme poverty in remote parts of Affrica can make you feel sad and powerless until you realize how little it takes to change these people's lives fundamentally in sustainable ways.

Every artist wants some sort of feedback, because you make this music and you hope people love it and you want to hear if they love it and what they love about it, what their favorite song is, what they think the next single should be. I like to hear those things.

I want you to live the best life you can. You can be world-changers. .. Pursue this life of love with focus and passion and ambition and courage. Give it your all. And that will be your path to true success.

Some people, you know, should just go to college and do what they do and have a great job and not worry about trying to be famous as a singer. It's not for everyone.

I have a structured songwriting process. I start with the music and try to come up with musical ideas, then the melody, then the hook, and the lyrics come last. Some people start with the lyrics first because they know what they want to talk about and they just write a whole bunch of lyrical ideas, but for me the music tells me what to talk about.

You can always find a stray negative comment on the Internet. It's like everybody loves to put negative comments on the Internet under the cloak of anonymity.

A just society is not one built on fear or repression or vengeance or exclusion, but one built on love. Love for our families. Love for our neighbors. Love for the least among us. Love for those who look different or worship differently. Love for those we don't even know.

John legend is a nickname that somebody started calling me a while ago and part of it is 'cos I sound like an old man when I sing.

The issue I focus on the most is extreme poverty. I think it's kind of out of sight out of mind. I wish there would be more stories about that to connect people to what's happening. To personalize it, to make it real to people, to inspire them to action.

One day when the glory comes It will be ours, it will be ours One day when the war is won We will be sure, we will be sure Oh glory.

Now the war is not over, victory isn't won But we'll fight on to the finish, and when it's all done.

The 2nd time leads to the 3rd, the 5th, the 7th time,I feel so alive, it won't last but it's alright

Now that I'm coming out with my own record people can see I'm a solo artist.

There's something in your heartAnd it's in your eyesIt's the fire, inside youLet it burnYou don't say, "Good luck"You say, "Don't give up"It's the fire, inside youLet it burn

Recently, John and I got to go to Selma and perform it on the same bridge that Martin Luther King walked over. Once a landmark of a divided nation, the spirit of this bridge now for all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or social status. This bridge was built on hope and welded with compassion. Common

You know, my family is very musical, I was surrounded by it. And from four years old I was the one that asked my mother could I take piano lessons.

We're just ordinary people. We don't know which way to go.

My first big break came with Lauryn Hill on a track called Everything is Everything, I played piano on that track way back in 1998.

When we see people that are impoverished and people who are dealt an unfair hand, then if we have the power to help them, we should try to do that.

I think I'm happier, not just because of winning Grammys and selling records, but because it's really fulfilling to have all these things happen with something you love to do.

There's a certain confidence that comes with being sure about the way the world works.

We have a serious problem with incarceration in this country. It's destroying families, it's destroying communities and we're the most incarcerated country in the world, and when you look deeper and look at the reasons we got to this place, we as a society made some choices politically and legislatively, culturally to deal with poverty, deal with mental illness in a certain way and that way usually involves using incarceration.

We all must follow a different path to let our light shine, and that's what makes us so unpredictable and unique.

Black people invented jazz. But this story [in La La Land] wasn't ever claiming to be that. It's just a story about two people from one writer's point of view.

You learn so much from taking chances, whether they work out or not. Either way, you can grow from the experience and become stronger and smarter.

I want to make a better record than I made the last time. I want to grow. I want to discover new things about myself creatively.

I think it's not enough for us to extend the hand of love. I think it's important that that goes both ways. It's important also that we look at policies we need to change as well.

If a relationship is going to work, it will require compromise and, even then, it is not always going to end the way you want it to.

The best way to fight poverty is to empower people through access to quality education

It's important for us to fight for certain changes that need to happen. And one of those issues that I really care about is education. But also another one is incarceration.

The future started yesterday, and we're already late.

My head's under water but I'm breathing fine

Mass incarceration is a policy that's kind of built up over the last four decades and it's destroyed families and communities, and something we need to change. And it's fallen disproportionally on black and brown communities, especially black communities, and it's kind of a manifestation of structural racism.

I keep learning, listening, growing and experimenting.

I guess a lot of times pressure is put on something after it becomes big.

Why wouldn't I help? What good reason do I have as a human being with power and a sense of empathy and morality, why wouldn't I do something?

The biggest weapon is to stay peaceful

Love your curves and all your edges All your perfect imperfections

Music business is not for everyone. But if you have it in you, you have that passion, if you have that energy in you that you really want to make something creative and make something that's going to impact the world, then go for it, do it and don't let anybody tell you no.

If you want the film [La La Land ] to represent all things jazz, it does not. You'll be disappointed by that. But, if you just see it as one guy's point of view, one filmmaker's point of view, and one story among many stories that can be told about jazz, then it's not as much of an issue.

There are more black men incarcerated today than there were slaves in 1850.

I just want it to be timeless and timely at the same time.

We should care about what is going on in the world.

Kind of the critical acclaim of this movie [La La Land] is that it's striking a chord with the public in a way that has been really beautiful and powerful.

To me, as a musician, there aren't any boundaries genre-wise as far as what can you listen to to inspire you.

You see all these things that make you feel desperate or sad, but you realize changes can be made, and it doesn't take a lot of money on our part to make a change in people's lives.

The best training is to play by ear: trial by fire.

Sometimes success is just limited to festival circuit.

J. Ivy is a brilliant man with an incredible voice and a way with words. I've known him for over a decade and owe my stage name to him believing in me back then before I even had a record deal. I'm excited for him to share his truth with the world.

It's not enough to say we need to love each other, you have to go behind that and say we need to change these policies, we need to fight, we need to protest, we need to agitate for change.

You have to be careful when it comes to copyrights, whether just sounding like or feeling like something is enough to say you violated their copyrights because there's a lot of music out there, and there's a lot of things that feel like other things that are influenced by other things. And you don't want to get into that thing where all of us are suing each other all the time because this and that song feels like another song.

I want to move people.

I don't feel like that many musicians are competitive with each other.

Well, I like songs that have like a little bit of quirkiness to them.

I played classical as a kid.

I always felt that rap didn't cause crime; it just reflected it.

As a nation - and as a world - we need more truth.

It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live.

All men should be feminists. If men cared about women's rights, the world would be a better place

Marvin Gaye was one of the coolest. I look to him as a style icon and as an artist.

I wrote the song "Show Me" as a prayer to God asking simple, honest questions about life and death and why there is so much suffering in the world. As I grew with the song I realized I shouldn't limit these questions solely to God; I should ask those questions of others and of myself.

The weirdest thing about Hillary Clinton's email 'scandal' is finding out some of our senators still don't use email.

The struggle for freedom and justice is now.

I was the front man of the choir and then when I was 12 and I was the leadsinger of my highschool groups.

I only want to be associated with music that is high quality. That's my main criteria.

I was always the front man for what I was doing from when I was 6.

That's the evergreen nature of a great song. They can be resurrected. They can be covered. They can find new relevance due to changing circumstances in history.

But in my mind I've always been a solo artist- I've just been working with a lot of great people like Kanye and Alicia Keys and Jay-Z.

Happy that New York passed marriage equality tonight. A victory for human rights. Progress.

For me I'm actually doing what I normally do when I do my solo thing and the other thing is actually more new to me.

I think people relate to the music because I have a sense of empathy, and I think I have a good understanding about relationships, and I talk about them in a real, honest way

I was in an a cappella group in school, so it particularly helped me keep my piano chops up.

I hear melodies and hooks all day. I've always been that way, since I was a kid.

I like cool jackets - a nice fall or winter coat. You can get a lot of use out of it, and you'll wear it frequently, so it can really set the tone of your uniform for the season.

I have a great band, with very talented players, and we give everything we have every night.

I feel like spirituality definitely comes through in my music, but I don't make any specific efforts to make it that way.

If a few people decide not to buy my album it's really not going to change my life that much.

I just want my music to measure up to. Part of it's just thinking about my place in history and how this music is going to be perceived, if it's listened to 30, 40 years from now.

Critics like to describe and categorize things, and categories often have a way of limiting people.

My mother, I want her to like my music, but she's not exactly my target audience. So I care more about the fans in general, just making sure they enjoy what I do.

The fun part about collaborating is that you naturally just bounce off each other's energy and learn off each other.