Ahhh, Kanye West, better known as Yeezy, is the controversial, fashion loving, entrepreneurial, American “rap god.”

With 21 grammys and counting, Kanye continues to produce record-hitting albums.

He also has inspired millions with his words. Check out some of my favorite quotes by the man himself below!

Kanye West Quotes

1. “Recognize and embrace your flaws so you can learn from them. Sometimes it takes a little polishing to truly shine.” – Kanye West

2. “If you have the opportunity to play this game of life you need to appreciate every moment. A lot of people don’t appreciate the moment until it’s passed.” – Kanye West

3. “Criticism can bother you, but you should be more bothered if there’s no criticism. That means you’re too safe.”– Kanye West

4. “People will have a problem with whatever you do. At the end of the day, nobody can determine what you need to do in order to be successful and why would you listen to someone who is not successful tell you what you need to do?”– Kanye West

5. “Our work is never over.” – Kanye West

6. “Keep your nose out the sky, keep your heart to god, and keep your face to the rising sun.” – Kanye West

7. “I want people to feel like it’s ok to create. It’s ok to not be boxed in. I want people to feel like, awesome is possible.”  – Kanye West

8. “I think I do myself a disservice by comparing myself to Steve Jobs and Walt Disney and human beings that we’ve seen before. It should be more like Willy Wonka…and welcome to my chocolate factory.” – Kanye West

9. “Nobody can tell me where I can and can’t go.” – Kanye West

10. “I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem, or use my arrogance as a steam to power my dreams.” – Kanye West

11. “It really matters and then like it really doesn’t matter. What matters is the people who are sparked by it. And the people who are like offended by it, it doesn’t matter. Because it’s about motivating the doers. Because I’m here to follow my dreams and inspire other people to follow their dreams, too.” – Kanye West

12. “They say people in your life are seasons and anything that happens is for a reason.” – Kanye West

13. “Creative output, you know, is just pain. I’m going to be cliche for a minute and say that great art comes from pain.” – Kanye West

14. “People always tell you to be humble, be humble, be humble. When was the last time someone told you to be great. To be amazing. To be awesome.”  – Kanye West

15. “When you’re the absolute best, you get hated on the most.” – Kanye West

16. “I was never really good at anything except for the ability to learn.” – Kanye West

17. “For me, giving up is harder than trying.” – Kanye West

18. “You’ve got to be really dialed into exactly who you are to the one hundredth power or you’re just everyone else.”  – Kanye West

19. “A lot of people are very sacred with their ideas, and there’s something to protecting yourself in that way. But there’s also something to idea sharing, or being the person who makes the mistake in public so people can study that.” – Kanye West

20. “I feel that I’m very blessed. But with great blessings come great responsibility.” – Kanye West

21. “Most people are slowed down by the perception of themselves. If you’re taught you can’t do anything, you won’t do anything. I was taught I can do everything.” – Kanye West

22. “Why are people so afraid of creative ideas and so scared of truth? All I want to do is do good.” – Kanye West

23. “I don’t care about having a legacy, I don’t care about being remembered. The most important thing to me is, while we’re here, while we’re having fun, while we’re sleeping, breathing oxygen, living life, falling in love, having pain and having joy…what can we do with our voice to make things easier, to help someone to make it better for our kids.” – Kanye West

24. “Nothing in life is promised except death. Know your worth!” – Kanye West

25. “Someone will always be prettier. Someone will always be smarter. Someone will always be younger. But they will never be you.” – Kanye West

26. “I can be vilified. I can be misunderstood. I didn’t come here to be liked. I came here to make a difference.” – Kanye West

27. “When you say justice, it doesn’t have to be war. Justice could just be clearing a path for people to dream properly. But you can’t win every single fight. It’s a long war, and if you’re out there trying to blow up every single building, you won’t win the war.” – Kanye West

28. “People always say that you can’t please everybody. I think that’s a cop-out. Why not attempt it? ‘Cause think of all the people that you will please if you try.” – Kanye West

29. “People in this world shun people for being great, for being a bright color, for standing out. But the time is now, to be OK with being the greatest you.” – Kanye West

30. “Everything I’m not makes me everything I am.” – Kanye West

31. “What the media calls ‘meltdowns,’ I call ‘turn-ups.’ The media does everything they can to break creatives, break artists, to break people’s spirits, and I do everything I can to break media.” – Kanye West

32. “Love your haters. They’re your biggest fans.” – Kanye West

33. “I’m not going to sit inside of a corporation for 20 years. The time is now. The time is now to express yourself. The time is now to believe in yourself.” – Kanye West

34. “Why, if someone is good in one field can they not be accepted or given the slightest opportunity to express and be creative in other fields?” – Kanye West

35. “Life is 5% what happens, and 95% how you react.” – Kanye West

36. “But for me to have the opportunity to stand in front of a bunch of executives and present myself, I had to hustle in my own way.” – Kanye West

37. “The only luxury is time. The time you get to spend with your family.” – Kanye West

38. “I refuse to accept other people’s ideas of happiness for me. As if there’s a ‘one size fits all’ standard for happiness.” – Kanye West

39. “I’m not comfortable with comfort. I’m only comfortable when I’m in a place where I’m constantly learning and growing.” – Kanye West

40. “I have millions of ideas and I represent a new generation just trying to express themselves in a broken world. I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade. I am so credible and so influential and so relevant that I will change things.”– Kanye West

41. “We’re not always in the position that we want to be at. We’re constantly growing We’re constantly making mistakes. We’re constantly trying to express ourselves and actualize our dreams.” – Kanye West

42. “When I think of competition, it’s like I try to create against the past. I think about Michelangelo and Picasso, you know, the pyramids.” – Kanye West

43. “You can’t look at a glass half full or empty if it’s overflowing.” – Kanye West

44. “The longer your ‘gevity is, the more confidence you build.” – Kanye West

45. “People don’t stand up and protect their dreams because they get spoofed in a way.” – Kanye West

46. “My greatest award is what I’m about to do.” – Kanye West

47. “Living well eliminates the need for revenge.” – Kanye West

48. “Thirty-three-years-old, still creating art. It’s rage, it’s creativity, it’s pain, it’s hurt, but it’s the opportunity to still have my voice get out there through music.” – Kanye West

49. “I refuse to follow the rules where society tries to control people with low self esteem.” – Kanye West

50. “I feel like I’m too busy writing history to read it.” – Kanye West

51. “Reach for the stars so if you fall you land on a cloud.” – Kanye West

52. “The dinosaurs are remember only by their bones. What will we be remembered for with humanity?” – Kanye West

53. “You ain’t gotta like me. I like me.” – Kanye West

54. “No you’re not perfect but you’re not your mistakes.” – Kanye West

55. “It’s bigger than me. It’s about while I was here on earth what did I do to help.” – Kanye West

56. “Woke up an optimist, sun was shining, I’m positive.” – Kanye West

57. “Know your worth! People always act like they’re doing more for you than you’re doing for them.” – Kanye West

58. “Most people are slowed down by the perception of themselves. If you’re taught you can’t do anything, you won’t do anything. I was taught I can do everything.” – Kanye West

59. “I am Warhol. I am the No. 1 most impactful artist of our generation. I am Shakespeare in the flesh.” – Kanye West

60. “Believe in your flyness…conquer your shyness.” – Kanye West

61. “I think that’s a responsibility that I have, to push possibilities, to show people: ‘This is the level that things could be at.” – Kanye West

62. “I’m on the pursuit of awesomeness, excellence is the bare minimum.” – Kanye West

63. “I don’t expect to be understood at all.” – Kanye West

64. “If you can focus the energy into something valuable, put that into work ethic.” – Kanye West

65. “If everything I did failed – which it doesn’t, it actually succeeds – just the fact that I’m willing to fail is an inspiration. People are so scared to lose that they don’t even try. Like, one thing people can’t say is that I’m not trying, and not I’m not trying my hardest, and I’m not trying to do the best way I know how.” – Kanye West

Have a favorite quote or lyric from Kanye that wasn’t on here? Leave it in the comments below!