Quotes About Adversity

I concede nothing until they throw dirt on my face.

I used to write in a local coffee shop, but there was another guy, another writer, who kept sitting in my favorite seat. I would show up, and he would be there, and I would get exiled to a couch or something, and it would throw me off my game.

I was badly bullied when I was in the seventh grade - relentlessly, mercilessly - by a group of 12-year-old girls. And it left me with a determination that no matter what, I had to throw my shoulders back, stick out my chin, and project a sense that no one and nothing could hurt me. That turned out to be a life-changing mistake.

I became a journalist at 17. A few hours later, I saw my first dead body, which was somewhat... colourful. That's when I learned you can go on throwing up after you run out of things to throw up.

At the end of the day, it is about the album and book and also about setting the record straight, because 'American Idol' has done a great job of defaming my name and throwing a lot of mud at me for the past two years. So that set up a lot of roadblocks for me.

I used to tell Jackie (Robinson) sometimes when they were throwing at him, 'Jackie, they aren't throwing at you because you are black. They are throwing at you because they don't like you.

I lost six months of work due to throwing open punches and took a punch on the chin.

I came back after my surgery, throwing four to six miles harder than I did before.

One time, when I was about eight, these guys started throwing water balloons at me. That really did ruin my summer.

I was always throwing a fit about it, like somebody I was fighting had their hair painted and I would be like, it's not enough that this guy has to win a fight against me, but he's gotta do it with his hair being on blast, like big mohawk. Just a wild man.

Your natural instinct when people are throwing punches at you is to back up. That just makes it more dangerous for you. You'll get hurt that way. You've got to teach yourself to go forward, move your feet and move your head. I'm not going to lie, that was tough for me to learn.

People didn't question my knowledge, my throwing ability or athleticism; they questioned my ability to stand in and take a hit. So to be able to answer those questions on a week-to-week basis has been pretty cool.

Yeah, I went for the TNT title and didn't work out, but I kept kicking some butt, throwing people in ceilings and waiting my turn.

In high school, I was probably 155 - I wanted to run fast and get a scholarship, so, it was drilled in me that if you lose weight, you'll run faster. So, I went on a diet - I did lose weight, but then I hit a plateau where I couldn't lose any more weight. So, I started throwing my food up, so I became bulimic.

I had people telling me I was great and women throwing themselves at me and I got caught up in that life. At school all I'd hear was - 'you're not going to make anything of yourself' - and suddenly I was up there thinking: 'look where I am. Look where I am!' You're not in the real world.

I learned to listen as a good guy, how to fight back without throwing away the heat, and how to fight back while I was still hurting. That part would always keep you in the game and keep you in the match.

Those of us who were 12 or 13 when the war started were absolutely thrown into the mainstream. We had to grow up instantly and take care of ourselves.

I think to be in exile is a curse, and you need to turn it into a blessing. You've been thrown into exile to die, really, to silence you so that your voice cannot come home. And so my whole life has been dedicated to saying, 'I will not be silenced.'

Even if I get thrown out of Hollywood, I'll come back.

I operate from a place of like water on a duck's back. When things are thrown at me or said to me that aren't worth my time, they don't register with me. Like it just rolls off my back.

You have to take whatever situation is thrown at you and make the best decision at the time.

No matter how many obstacles that are thrown in our path, there are ways to except them and to live through them.

I was going to be in an acting school in London, and then I promptly got thrown out of an acting school in London. Well, it wasn't that I got thrown out as much as I was not invited back, which is the same thing, just more polite.

I've had people spit in my face. I've had bottles thrown at me. My house has been attacked. I've had loads of things happen. People have written to me saying they are going to find me.