42 Motivational J. Cole Quotes that Will Feed your Ambition

Jermaine Lamarr Cole, known by his stage name J. Cole, is an American rapper and producer. Brought into the spotlight by Jay Z, Cole managed to make a great name for himself in the rap industry due to his talent and love for music.

Now, J. Cole has the life that many don’t even dare to dream about, but things haven’t always been this way. Shortly after he was born, his father left his mother and him.

Struggling with financial problems, they used to live in trailer parks until Cole’s mother remarried. Unfortunately, his stepfather became abusive and the marriage ended; soon after that, his mother became addicted to crack.

While improving his productions skills and serving as a first-chair violinist in an orchestra, Cole held down a number of part-time jobs, including dressing up as a kangaroo mascot at an ice hockey rink. No wonder many J. Cole sayings are about hard work and doing whatever it takes to become the best.

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Cole taught himself how to rap and produce music, worked hard, sold great amounts of records and produced tracks for various artists. Although he started being successful at a young age and could have easily chosen to be adventurous and literally do whatever he desired, Cole chose discipline and responsibility. He found a deeper meaning in having a family.

The rapper keeps himself busy, but he still finds the time to lead his own nonprofit foundation. Dedicated to the urban youth of Fayetteville, NC, the foundation’s goal is to encourage youngsters to have a dream, believe in it and eventually make it come true. Cole also bought a house and turned it into a homestead for single mothers and their children to live rent-free.

Here's a list of 42 best J. Cole quotes to motivate you to achieve all your goals.

Anything's possible, you gotta dream like you never seen obstacles.

Don't let bridges you cross be bridges you burn.

I put a lot of pressure on myself. I think something's not good enough, and I won't stop until I feel like I've made it.

You are perfect exactly as you are. With all your flaws and problems, there's no need to change anything. All you need to change is the thought that you aren't good enough.

We got dreams and we got the right to chase ’em.

Hard to move on when you always regret one.

Sometimes our dreams come true, sometimes our fears do too.

If you truly believe it, that's step one. Step two, is, you know, the hard work that goes along with it.

I'm here to spread a message of hope. Follow your heart. Don't follow what you've been told you're supposed to do.

They say time is money but really, it’s not. If we ever go broke, time is all we got.

If they don’t know your dreams, they can’t shoot them down.

I feel like this: Whatever is in your path and in your heart, you need to do.

Never give up until you’ve given out all your very best. It’s better to fail trying, than wondering what could have happened if you tried.

Take a chance, because you never know how perfect something can turn out.

I’d rather be happy being myself than sad trying to please everyone else.

You have to hurt in order to know. Fall in order to grow. Lose in order to gain. Because most of life’s lessons are learned in pain.

Nothing lasts forever, but at least we’ve got these memories.

I had a lot of resistance, and not just to fame. I was always conscious of not changing.

You have no control over what somebody else feels about you, but you have 100 percent control over how you feel about yourself and how you feel about the people around you and how you handle life.

I feel like I am officially in the game, but I also feel like I’m not where I want to be. I’m far from it. I got a lot more things to do. I got a lot more respect to get…

I keep my head high, I got my wings to carry me. I don’t know freedom, I want my dreams to rescue me.

It’s beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success.

If you ain’t aim too high, then you aim too low!

To appreciate the sun, you gotta know what rain is.

I always feel like it’s two key ingredients when it comes to following your dreams, making something happen that the average person deems difficult. If you truly believe it, that’s step one. Step two, is, you know, the hard work that goes along with it.

Keep grindin’ boy, your life can change in one year, And even when it’s dark out, the sun is shining somewhere.

The same ones you love will bring you pain.

My life accelerated, but had to wait my turn. But then I redecorated, that means my tables turn.

No such thing as a life that’s better than yours, no such thing – no such thing…

In this life ain’t no happy endings. Only pure beginnings followed by years of sinning and fake repentance.

Life is a movie, pick your own role, climb your own ladder or you dig your own hole.

But there’s a lot of stuff going on in the world. Whether or not you’re aware of it, it’s happening.

I do put a lot of God in my music, but not because I’m super religious. There are a lot of demons in my music, too. I acknowledge both.

I struggled with being a broke college graduate, and while all my friends were getting career jobs, I was working horrible part-time jobs. That’s why now, even when I get tired, I think, ‘This is what I asked for.’

The further I go, I still feel equally further from my eventual goal. Because as I grow, I get more goals. I’m never content.

I’m really going out of my way to do it the right way. I’m taking very few cheats – very few cheat codes that I’m using.

School is a good place – it ain’t for everybody, but I think it’s for most people.

Producing all my own songs and refusing to go to the hot producer. That’s the biggest risk I’ve taken so far.

The music becomes more pure and soulful when it’s true, and it has to be true…

I don’t like to think of it as being fired. Instead, I prefer to think of it as being on indefinite leave with a sabbatical flair.

I try to put all those positive things into a regular human character, which is myself.

There’s a story behind every person, a reason why they are the way they are. So, think about that before you judge someone.