Quotes About Ambition

I tried four times to get into the Central School of Speech and Drama before I got accepted. I started when I was 17, which was too young, in retrospect, and finally went when I was 21. I just kept plugging away. Determined? Yeah, I think I was.

So many times, I have a speech ready but no dice. Always a bridesmaid, never a mother.

I just always knew I wanted to be an actor. I gave my Emmy acceptance speech when I was 11. But, I wasn't allowed to do plays and things like that. It was considered dangerous. My parents didn't think it was safe for a girl to do that, and they definitely didn't think it was interesting to participate in the arts.

My speech is really important to me, but the thing is at the moment it can't be more important than my singing. Until I'm an established name all over the world, my speech won't be more important than my music.

Being in a scenario where you're thinking, 'I can't do what I want to do due to the financial burden that comes with some of it,' makes you think, 'Well, I could go and do an after-dinner speech every night.' I'd probably earn more than I could in track-and-field. But that's a dangerous scenario to get yourself into.

People dream their whole lives of their Oscar speech; I dreamt my whole life of hosting the Oscars.

People always need to hear good motivational speeches.

I've been wanting to do music since I was 14, but like I've really always enjoyed giving speeches and I enjoy talking to people, so I was like, maybe I can be a newscaster.

When I was in high school, people would ask me what I wanted to do, and I would always say I wanted to 'lead marches and give speeches.'

I've always watched the Hall of Fame speeches. Thought about what I would talk about if I ever was up there. But I don't wake up in the morning thinking about wanting to be in the Hall of Fame. I really don't.

From being a little girl in the projects, going through all of the mess that I was going through, to ending up at the Inauguration for the first African-American president, I'm speechless right now because I never thought I'd - I never ever - I couldn't even see that far. Even when I ended up in the music business, I couldn't see that.

I want everybody to run at the same speed as me. But some people are more conscientious, they think more and they plan more. And they're more careful.

I didn't have a lot of good film coming out of college. Also, my height didn't help me at all. I ran a decent 40, but no one would call it blazing speed.

When I saw the 2010 Games and speed skating, I had a change of heart. I had always dreamed of being an Olympian, and something clicked inside of me. I knew I had to move to Salt Lake City and make this dream a reality.

Maybe at the end of my figure skating career, I'll be able to have just the one game I always dreamed of having. I've still got the skill, I think. I'd have to work on my stick-handling skills, but the speed and my hockey smarts are still there.

I'm looking to run the fastest, but I want to prove that I'm more than a speed guy.

If you try to write a novel in L.A., you're a chump; everyone is speeding by, and you're driving a rickshaw.

It's about being open to what comes your way. I came to New York and saw 'Spelling Bee.' I said to myself, 'That's the greatest show ever, and I can't believe I'm not a part of it.' I felt the only way I'm going to get to be a part of something that good is to live in New York. So I moved to New York and ended up in 'Spelling Bee.'

The loan spells were great, I always pushed for them.

I've enjoyed the pleasures of working since I was 12 and earned all my own spending money since I was 14.

I've spent most of my life writing and developing everything that I've wanted to be in - which is why I started writing in the first place.

Since I have spent so much time with film-makers, and I understand the process, I would love to direct a film some day.

I spent two years trying to get into drama school.

After college, I spent a decade working the kinds of jobs that I write about - bartender, shoe salesman, kitchen man - while voraciously reading novels.