Beyoncé

Beyoncé at The Lion King premiere in 2019

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress.

Quotes

• After having my daughter, I made a conscious effort to regain control of my health and my body. But I didn't want to do a crash diet. I was a mom now. I needed to change my ways and set an example for my child. … A year later (around November 2013), my husband and I decided we wanted to try a completely plant-based diet … And so the journey began that helped me get into the best shape of my life. Little did I know the long-lasting effects it would have. I thought, like with most diets, I would feel deprived and hate food, that I would miss out on restaurants and celebrations, that I would get headaches and be irritable, etc. I was wrong about all of that. It took a few days to adjust, but what I discovered was increased energy, better sleep, weight loss, improved digestion, clarity, and an incredibly positive feeling for my actions and the effects it would have on those around me and the environment.
  • Foreword to Marco Borges's The 22-Day Revolution, New York: Penguin, 2015

• We have to care about our bodies and what we put in them. Women have to take the time to focus on our mental health—take time for self, for the spiritual, without feeling guilty or selfish. The world will see you the way you see you, and treat you the way you treat yourself.
  • "Beyoncé Wants to Change the Conversation", interview with Elle (4 April 2016)

• Anyone who perceives my message as anti-police is completely mistaken. I have so much admiration and respect for officers and the families of officers who sacrifice themselves to keep us safe. But let's be clear: I am against police brutality and injustice. Those are two separate things.
  • "Beyoncé: 'Anyone Who Perceives My Message as Anti-Police Is Completely Mistaken'". Time. 5 April 2016.

• I'm not bossy. I'm the boss.
  • "Beyoncé wants you to stop saying bossy'". Rolling Stone. 10 March 2014.
• “I just wanna encourage people to do what they’re passionate about and to stay persistent.”
  • Beyoncé Is Shocked to Win the Grammy for Best Country Album With Cowboy Carter ELLE ( Feb 02, 2025)
• “Rumi, who’s on the album, our youngest daughter, she was watching [at home], and I forgot to thank her so I get to thank her now. Thank you, Rumi.”
  • Beyoncé thanks daughter Rumi after forgetting her in Grammys speech for Album of the Year EWE.COM( February 3, 2025)
• “When I look out there, I see myself.”
  • 'When I look out there, I see myself': Beyoncé kicks off Houston concert with an emotional thank you Houston chronicle (June 28, 2025)
• “I’d like to thank my beautiful husband, my beautiful three children who are at home watching.”
  • Beyoncé Thanks Her Uncle Johnny & Queer Community During Grammy Speech Out magazine (February 05 2023)
• “Thank you so much. I’m trying not to be too emotional, and I’m trying to just receive this night.”
  • Beyoncé Thanks Her Uncle Johnny & Queer Community During Grammy Speech out.com (February 05 2023)

Remarks at a rally for the Kamala Harris presidential campaign (2024)

Our voices sing a chorus of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity. Are y’all ready to add your voice to the new American song?

'I'm here as a mother': Beyoncé endorses Kamala Harris in emotional Texas rally speech"MSNBC (24 October 2024)

• We are at the precipice of an incredible shift, the brink of history. I’m not here as a celebrity. I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother. A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in. A world where we have the freedom to control our bodies. A world where we’re not divided. Our past, our present, our future, merge to meet us here.

• It’s time to sing a new song. A song that began 248 years ago. The old notes of downfall, discord, despair, no longer resonate. Our generations of loved ones before us are whispering a prophecy, a quest, a calling, an anthem. Our moment right now. It’s time for America to sing a new song.
  Our voices sing a chorus of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity. Are y’all ready to add your voice to the new American song? Because I am. So let’s do this!
• After the birth of my first child, I believed in the things society said about how my body should look.
  • Beyoncé Talks About Accepting the Way Her Body Wanted to Be Time (August 6, 2018).
• During my recovery, I gave myself self-love and self-care, and I embraced being curvier. I accepted what my body wanted to be, To this day my arms, shoulders, breasts, and thighs are fuller. I have a little mommy pouch, and I’m in no rush to get rid of it. I think it’s real.
  • Beyoncé Talks About Accepting the Way Her Body Wanted to Be Time (August 6, 2018).
• Whenever I’m ready to get a six-pack, I will go into beast zone and work my a– off until I have it, But right now, my little FUPA and I feel like we are meant to be.
  • Beyoncé Talks About Accepting the Way Her Body Wanted to Be Time (August 6, 2018).
• I’ve been through hell and back, and I’m grateful for every scar, I look at the woman I was in my 20s and I see a young lady growing into confidence but intent on pleasing everyone around her. I now feel so much more beautiful, so much sexier, so much more interesting. And so much more powerful.
  • Beyoncé Talks About Accepting the Way Her Body Wanted to Be Time (August 6, 2018).
• I’ve spent so many years trying to better myself and improve whatever I’ve done that I’m at a point where I no longer need to compete with myself. I have no interest in searching backwards. The past is the past. I feel many aspects of that younger, less evolved Beyoncé could never f*** with the woman I am today. Haaa!
  • Beyoncé Talks Dangers of Dieting, Protecting Her Peace And Minding Her Business In New Interview Refinery29 (August 10, 2021).
• In the past, I spent too much time on diets, with the misconception that self-care meant exercising and being overly conscious of my body. My health, the way I feel when I wake up in the morning, my peace of mind, the number of times I smile, what I’m feeding my mind and my body—those are the things that I’ve been focusing on. Mental health is self-care too.
  • Beyoncé Talks Dangers of Dieting, Protecting Her Peace And Minding Her Business In New Interview Refinery29 (August 10, 2021).
• “I want to show that you can have fun and have purpose, be respectful and speak your mind. You can be both elegant and a provocateur. You can be curvy and still be a fashion icon. I wish this freedom for every person. I have paid my dues and followed every rule for decades, so now I can break the rules that need to be broken. My wish for the future is to continue to do everything everyone thinks I can’t do.
  • Beyoncé Talks Dangers of Dieting, Protecting Her Peace And Minding Her Business In New Interview Refinery29 (August 10, 2021).
• One of my most satisfying moments as a mom is when I found Blue one day soaking in the bath with her eyes closed, using blends I created and taking time for herself to decompress and be at peace.
  • Beyoncé Talks Dangers of Dieting, Protecting Her Peace And Minding Her Business In New Interview Refinery29 (August 10, 2021).
• I have made an extreme effort to stay true to my boundaries and protect myself and my family. No amount of money is worth my peace.
  • Beyoncé Says She Builds Her Work Schedule 'Around My Family': 'No Amount of Money Is Worth My Peace' People (September 10, 2024).
• I try to only tour when my kids are out of school. I always dreamt of a life where I could see the world with my family and expose them to different languages, architecture and lifestyles.
  • Beyoncé Says She Builds Her Work Schedule 'Around My Family': 'No Amount of Money Is Worth My Peace' People (September 10, 2024).
• Raising three kids isn't easy. The older they get, the more they become their own individuals with unique needs, hobbies and social lives, My twins are God-sent. Parenting constantly teaches you about yourself. It takes a lot of prayer and patience. I love it. It's grounding and fulfilling.
  • Beyoncé Says She Builds Her Work Schedule 'Around My Family': 'No Amount of Money Is Worth My Peace' People (September 10, 2024).
• They come to my office after school, and they are in the studio with me. They are in dance rehearsals. It's natural that they would learn my choreography.
  • Beyoncé Says She Builds Her Work Schedule 'Around My Family': 'No Amount of Money Is Worth My Peace' People (September 10, 2024).

Quotes about Beyoncé

• (In one of your essays in the book, from 2012, you write about Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez and say they are "[d]oing no more than supporting and promoting patriarchal and capitalist goals." Do you still feel this way about them, even as they—Beyoncé especially—are often held up as feminist icons?) AC: I do, but I know that I would have a lot of women of color of younger generations argue with me about that. I come from a generation of radical feminism; we believed in not using your body for financial gain and that sexualization fed into violence against women. I know that dates me. The performances that both Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé give are highly sexually charged, and they've made a lot of money off of a lot of men by sexualizing themselves as exotic beauties. Both of them have dyed their hair blonde, straightened it, weaved it, which feeds into a fantasy about women and women of color. I come from a very different perspective, and I don't believe that anything in terms of personal gain or materialism is really helping the rest of the world. If you make that much money, instead of buying a humongous mansion, go back to your community and start community projects and talk to your legislators about changing some of the laws [that mean] young men of color who have felonies because [they dealt] drugs as teenagers can no longer integrate into society. Moving away from Beyoncé and J-Lo—I'm sure they do a lot of good deeds—I'm very lucky I have a roof over my head. I can eat healthy food, my children have coats in cold weather, they have an education. I don't think a human being needs much more beyond that.
  • Ana Castillo Interview with Vice (May 2016)

• Someone else asks Davis if Beyoncé is a terrorist. The audience giggles, but the question is serious. During a panel discussion on liberating the Black female body earlier this year, feminist activist bell hooks described Beyoncé as a terrorist and antifeminist who was "colluding in the construction of herself as a slave." In an emollient reply, Davis said that she liked the fact that Beyoncé had sampled Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's speech on feminism on her album. The following day, I ask Davis more about it. "Whatever problems I have with Beyoncé, I think it is so misleading and irresponsible to use that word in connection with her. It has been used to criminalize struggles for liberation. But we don't use the words terror and terrorism to describe US history and the racism of the pre-civil rights era."
  • 2014 article in Conversations with Angela Davis Edited by Sharon Lynette Jones (2021)