Tupac Shakur

Burnin' churches, fearin' God, Who can be so cruel, We all ignorant to AIDS, Till it happens to you.

When your hero falls from grace, all fairy tales are uncovered Myth exposed and pain magnified, the grace pays uncovered He told me to be strong, but I confused to see it so weak You say never to give up, and it hurts to see what comes to be When your hero falls soley the stars, and so does the reception of tomorrow Without my hero, theres only me alone, to deal with my sorrow Your heart ceases to work, and your soul is not happy at all What are you expected to do, when your only hero falls

My raps are a decision, rabble rousing, spiritual, like gospel music. I don't want to dance. We have so many things to deal with, we need to talk straight up and down.

You have to work from one point to go to another. So I admire work ethic, I think it should be reinforced through our neighborhoods, that everybody should work hard, practice makes perfect, you have to be diligent with what you want, you have to apply yourself, you have to motivate your self. You have to do for self by yourself, and then you can do things for other people. That's what I had to do, I had to do for self.

I worked hard all my life as far as this music business. I dreamed of the day when I could go to New York and feel comfortable and they could come out here and be comfortable.

No one knows my Struggle, they only see the Trouble. Not knowing it's hard to carry on when, No one loves you.

It's a struggle for every young Black man. You know how it is, only God can judge us.

I am a hard person to love but when I love, I love really hard.

I finally understand / for a woman it ain't easy tryin to raise a man / You always was committed / A poor single mother on welfare, tell me how ya did it / There's no way I can pay you back / But the plan is to show you that I understand / You are appreciated

What I learned in jail is that I can't change. I can't live a different lifestyle - this is it. This is the life that they gave and this is the life that I made.

I feel like Black Jesus got his hands on me and guides me through life to put me where I'm supposed to be.

Dear mama, yo baby boys doing fine tell the homies I'm in heaven and they aint got hoods.

I don't bang for the color or the land. I bang for the principles and for the honor. I'm bangin' for the Westside- this is in my heart, this is how I feel.

I want to grow. I want to be better. You Grow. We all grow. We're made to grow.You either evolve or you disappear.

No matter what these people say about me, my music doesn't glorify any image. My music is spiritual when you listen to it. It's all about emotion, I tell my innermost, darkest secrets.

Don't look back unless it's a good view.

I have no fear, I have only ambition, and I want mine, And I will do anything to protect and feed my family.

If I was white I would have been like John Wayne... I feel like a tragic hero in a Shakespeare play

If you believe in God, believe in Death Row East.

There's nobody in the business strong enough to scare me.

Somebody help me, tell me where to go from here cause even Thugs cry, but do the Lord care?