Top 180 Russell Simmons Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “Always try to be yourself.”

— Russell Simmons

52. “I don’t miss my prayers and I don’t miss my yoga. Those things are important to me.”

— Russell Simmons

53. “Get unstuck from whatever it is you perceive is holding you back from realizing your dreams.”

— Russell Simmons

54. “You can’t jump to vegan if you’re not. Some people are absolute. Some people are able to be gradual.”

— Russell Simmons

55. “I try to keep a positive intention, and use whatever resources I have to benefit others. I try to create businesses that I think are not hurtful. I try to do things that I think are helpful to the environment, to the animals, and to the planet.”

— Russell Simmons

56. “Meditation can reintroduce you to the part that’s been missing.”

— Russell Simmons

57. “I try to do things that I think are helpful to the environment, to the animals, and to the planet.”

— Russell Simmons

58. “You have to live your life as if you are already where you want to be.”

— Russell Simmons

59. “People are afraid of failure – they don’t like to work so hard and have people keep saying, ‘No.’ I think that’s what people fear most.”

— Russell Simmons

60. “There is no happiness until the mind is still. The cause of all sickness and sadness is the fluctuation of the mind.”

— Russell Simmons

61. “It’s all about the work. Nothing is going to fall into your lap. If you want to be a lawyer, see yourself as a lawyer, go to the library and start learning the law. If you want to be a rapper, start rapping and get out there. Live your life as if you already are where you want to be.”

— Russell Simmons

62. “The imagination is how things get done. You have to cultivate creativity.”

— Russell Simmons

63. “Needing nothing really is the ultimate goal. And to have nothing to do with things.”

— Russell Simmons

64. “I don’t use my brain about the creative thing. From a business standpoint, I instinctively do things: when I get something right, it’s never because I use my brain.”

— Russell Simmons

65. “You will be a great entrepreneur if you operate with a real sincere wanting to serve.”

— Russell Simmons

66. “You can be anything you want to be, and you can start today, instead of waiting for some opportunity.”

— Russell Simmons

67. “The stuff I do, I do every day, and I’ve been doing it for long periods of time. I don’t start and quit-ever. I start and stay on it.”

— Russell Simmons

68. “In the morning I stand up, scratch a little bit, then I light a candle and I meditate. Every morning. I’ve been meditating for maybe 20 years. I meditate so I can make choices; so I’m not a sheep all the time. So I can see better than what everyone else is doing.”

— Russell Simmons

69. “Whatever obstacles appear in your path, put your head down and get past them. Those obstacles aren’t real. They’re just God’s way of testing you. He’s asking you, ‘Do you want to make it or not?’”

— Russell Simmons

70. “The thing about hip-hop is that it’s from the underground, ideas from the underbelly, from people who have mostly been locked out, who have not been recognized.”

— Russell Simmons

71. “Hip-hop is a voice for voiceless poor people.”

— Russell Simmons

72. “Decide that no matter what is happening around you, the sun will always be shining in your world.”

— Russell Simmons

73. “Antisemitism is just another form of racism. It’s the same sickness, whether it’s about Christians, about Islamophobia, which is horrible. It’s all wrong. It’s all the same.”

— Russell Simmons

74. “Every time I go into a new venture, I find a “rabbi” who has the business acumen to help me understand the mechanics of that industry, the costs involved in developing a product, and what you need to do in order to make a profit.”

— Russell Simmons

75. “Your purpose is to act on the resources God gives you. If God gives you a bucket of fish, you have to distribute those fish. If you don’t, they’re going to rot, attract a bunch of flies, and start stinking up your soul.”

— Russell Simmons

76. “As long as you are passionate about your vision, you should keep moving forward.”

— Russell Simmons

77. “The best defense for any group of people is what we do to defend other people.”

— Russell Simmons

78. “I’m always surrounded by smart talented people. I had talented partners. Stan Latham for one. Talent scouts.”

— Russell Simmons

79. “Stay in your lane. If you’re good enough, people will move to you.”

— Russell Simmons

80. “My wife Kimora once told me while we were watching “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” that it’s a vegetarian movie because the way that the woman was screaming, “Aaaahhh,” and trying to run away is how every animal you eat reacted at the slaughterhouse.”

— Russell Simmons

81. “I always say neediness is the cause of suffering. I’m not the only one who says it. It’s something I adopted and I believe.”

— Russell Simmons

82. “You’ll see a lot of funny stuff, you’ll see a lot of daddy-knows-best stuff, you’ll see a lot of me and my wife trying to hold the family together.”

— Russell Simmons

83. “I’ve been blessed to find people who are smarter than I am, and they help me to execute the vision I have.”

— Russell Simmons

84. “Quit taking, start giving.”

— Russell Simmons

85. “When you do good by the world, the world will do good by you.”

— Russell Simmons

86. “I ask everyone – white Hollywood and black Hollywood – to get outside of your comfort zone and make friends. That’s where they’re going to learn from each other, and that’s where they’re going to make better movies and make Hollywood a better place.”

— Russell Simmons

87. “I used to think anxiety and insomnia drove me to success, but it was the stillness that let me be good at anything. When you extend the seconds of stillness, that’s when you’re able to think and learn.”

— Russell Simmons

88. “Last year my wife got a Rolls-Royce.”

— Russell Simmons

89. “I had too many businesses that are frivolous. I have enough. What interests me most is under-served communities. We need a new style of empowering these people, and new approaches.”

— Russell Simmons

90. “I’m not a politician. I only want to help relieve the suffering in communities, and I want to help people see their community in each other.”

— Russell Simmons

91. “Not every move you make has to be a great leap.”

— Russell Simmons

92. “You know, the diversity that America has is so special. It’s starting to really become a cool thing for young people.”

— Russell Simmons

93. “I think when you’re very dedicated to something and you’re engaged fully, you become a giver.”

— Russell Simmons

94. “Anyone whose mission is keeping people apart is swimming against a very strong tide.”

— Russell Simmons

95. “I think I’m less afraid of failure than some others.”

— Russell Simmons

96. “I would like to employ more people but I don’t want to empower my charities at the cost of exploiting people or doing things that are not useful, so I’m working on that.”

— Russell Simmons

97. “I don’t believe that people create their own visions. Rather, I believe that visions are actually God’s way of communicating with us.”

— Russell Simmons

98. “Look at all the billionaires. If I know 15 billionaires, I know 13 unhappy people.”

— Russell Simmons

99. “If you aren’t passionate about a vision, it’s hard to have faith in it.”

— Russell Simmons

100. “I don’t like to say, Oh, this is my favorite record because there was a moment that that record made me feel a certain way. The one on the radio at the present moment could be the one that’s most inspiring, because it’s at that second that you’re aware of “the infinite everything.””

— Russell Simmons