Russell Simmons

Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. Pick people who are interested in what you're interested in.

I try to make my life about service, and hope that one day we can all 'see' a little better because God is with everyone and everywhere.

People are afraid of failure - they don't like to work so hard and have people keep saying, 'No.' I think that's what people fear most.

I've always been very determined, ever since I was a little girl, to make my way.

Well, I actually wrote her a letter a couple of days ago congratulating her. The tone I tried to convey in the letter is, look, you are a part of a great American historical process.

Recently, I was in Bernalda, my dad's ancestral home town in Italy. He has just refurbished a palazzo and turned it into a hotel, so we had my sister's wedding there. It was beautiful.