Quotes About Determination

I learned at a very early age that life is a battle. My family was poor, my neighborhood was poor. The only way that I could get away from the awfulness of life, at that time, was at the movies. There I decided that my big aim was to make money. And it was there that I became a very determined woman.

From a very early age, I realized why I was put on this planet: to fight.

It helps to know from a very early age what you want to do. From the time I was five years old, I wanted to be a writer, even though I couldn't even read. It was mainly because I thought of my father as a writer.

I learned resiliency at a very early age.

The reality is that I've been counted out for a very long time and people continue to underestimate me and I continue to overperform.

It was a fight for a very long time. After the end of the first season, all that was done.

Very ambitious startups often take a long time to work - or sometimes they take a very long time to look ambitious.

I just kind of, like, know who I am. I think that comes from having an incredibly strong sense of purpose for a very long time.

I wanted to have the no. 1 show on the Discovery channel. I went for it for a very long time, and I was knocking on every door in L.A. that would answer, and sleeping in front of Discovery's office, probably. It wasn't working, so I decided to regroup and take a break from knocking on doors.

I had wanted to be a writer for a very long time, and I had started a lot of books and failed to finish them. I had this terrible pattern of beginning manuscripts and then just losing steam, and I had begun to believe that I just didn't have it in me.

I realized a very long time ago, that I was never going to be the guy who, 'Oh, you look so big, let's push him in the main event and see,' or, 'Oh, this guy's got the best physique ever, let's put him in the main event and see.' It was always going to be the hard way.

I've been working really hard in this business for a very long time and I've had my share of ups and downs - and to be honest, most of them have been downs. It's a motivation point.

If I can be some kind of vessel to show people that, no matter the hard time you experienced, you can still succeed, I want to put out that positive energy to never quit and never give up.

Madison Square Garden, November 1984. I don't recall taking too much fear into the ring. I knew I could fight. But I got a big shock. They put me in with this rough, tough veteran called Lionel Byarm. He tested me to the limit. But I fought my heart out and, in the end, I prevailed. The story of my life, in my very first fight.

Long before I achieved financial success and became the subject of a Hollywood film, I was a veteran, a single father, and a working person who was homeless.

One of the first things I learned from veteran teammates - as a minor league player in the Detroit Tigers organization - was that you do everything in your power to stay out of the training room. It's a survival of the fittest thing.

There are no lazy veteran lion hunters.

As a veteran, you're a little more poised on that mental side. But athletically, I didn't really think I could get better.

I don't care if you're a young lion, you're an old lion, you're a veteran, you're in the middle of the pack - I'm top dog. I'm the guy.

Most veterans detested training camp, but not me. I loved having a dorm room and a little fridge with snacks, and I looked forward to goofing around in the meetings.

Veterans are determined to continue serving here at home, and given a level playing field, they will compete with anyone.

When I was young, I'd fight everyone who insisted I'd be an actress. I'd say, 'No way. I'm going to be a veterinarian. I'm going to work at Wetzel's Pretzels.'

If you ask me to compromise on principle, I will get out the veto pen.

I tried reaching out to my daughter via her family members but they couldn't get me access or straight answers. I know she will come and find me when the time is right.