Eminem

Proof had this ability to not only nurture my talent, but to see that diamond in the rough when a million people could be looking at the same thing... and just not see it.

You can try and read my lyrics off of this paper before I lay 'emBut you won't take the sting out these words before I say 'em

Love, when spelled backwards and read phonetically, reads evil

Let me remind you of what got me this far, picture me quitting, now draw a circle around it and put a line through it, sl#t!

My father? I never knew him. Never even seen a picture of him.

I think my first album opened a lot of doors for me to push the freedom of speech to the limit.

I didn't have nothin' going for me... school, home... until I found something I loved, which was music, and that changed everything.

Say there's a white kid who lives in a nice home, goes to an all-white school, and is pretty much having everything handed to him on a platter - for him to pick up a rap tape is incredible to me, because what that's saying is that he's living a fantasy life of rebellion.

People can try to reinvent themselves. I don't think you can really change who you are, though, because who you are is pretty much where you came from and what you've done up to now.

The emotions in a song - the anger, aggression - have got to be legitimate.

I don't think I've ever read poetry, ever.

I don't think I've ever read poetry, ever. I'm not really book-smart.

Everybody has goals, aspirations or whatever, and everybody has been at a point in their life where nobody believed in them.

I'd go to, like, six different schools in one year. We were on welfare, and my mom never ever worked.

I was going to McDonald's and Taco Bell every day. The kids behind the counter knew me - it wouldn't even faze them. Or I'd sit up at Denny's or Big Boy and just eat by myself. It was sad. I got so heavy that people started to not recognize me.

You know, fame is a funny thing, man, especially, you know, actors, musicians, rappers, rock singers, it's kind of a lifestyle and it's easy to get caught up in it - you go to bars, you go to clubs, everyone's doing a certain thing... It's tough.

Trust is hard to come by. That's why my circle is small and tight. I'm kind of funny about making new friends.

A lot of truth is said in jest.