Quotes About Adversity

My femininity is always something I've tried to preserve in this dog-eat-dog world.

My life has actually been full of challenges and painful moments - but I tried to bury such circumstances and work with complete dedication.

My dream was to become a ballet dancer, but after a year in bed with rheumatic fever at 13, I had grown too tall, and had no muscle tone left. I tried a ballet class and couldn't even do a plie without falling over. It was my first death.

During my career several people have tried to push me out the door... Nobody has succeeded yet.

Everyone has the bully or the mean girl or the ex-boyfriend who tried to bring them down.

Somebody told me I should put a pebble in my mouth to cure my stuttering. Well, I tried it, and during a scene I swallowed the pebble. That was the end of that.

Of course my goal at Duke was to win the national championship, but we were shorthanded, and lost one of our big guys that was very important to the team. By the end of the season we only played about six guys. But we tried our hardest and did our best and overall had a successful season.

Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.

Not too much, though there's a certain amount of rancour and bitterness when someone tries to fire you.

Yes... I miss that everyone in Ireland tries to knock some humour out of every situation. I don't think I appreciated that. It's unique to Ireland.

The older kids, if they wanted something from you, whether it was cash or sports equipment, they would just take it. My older brothers used to say, 'If someone tries to take something from you, never give it to them.' So we fought all the time.

When you don't win games everyone tries to stir the pot but this is the circus we're in.

I'm ready for whatever D.C. can throw at me. But if he stands there and tries to dish with me, be my guest.

The surface cells on my eyes don't root back into my eyeball like a normal person's do. Instead, they want to pull off. At night, the surface of my eye was actually adhering to my eyelid. Once that happened, any movement would cause a tear and trigger nearly indescribable pain.

Starting in my late 20s, I would go on one fishing trip a year to an exotic location. I went to India and caught what was essentially a giant carp. I went to Thailand and got myself arrested as a suspected spy. I went to the Congo and got malaria. But even the bad stuff is material.

I feel like even if I was to, say, trip and fall over on the way to the car and scratch all my arm, by the time I got in the car, it would be blacked out in my head.

People say, You paid your dues, but I never paid any dues. It's always been a great trip.

I went through a low phase for two years when I had a string of flops. At that time, I even felt that I was in the wrong profession and that I should leave acting. But thankfully, I utilised that time to introspect and went on a self-exploration trip. I did theatre in between, and it helped grow the fire within me.

Once, right before a show, I realized I'd forgotten shoes. I didn't want to wear my flip-flops onstage because I could trip. I ended up going barefoot, which actually worked out because it became my 'thing.'

It's just been really hard, 'cause I had a really hard year in 2012 where I had to have triple hernia surgery, and I was out of commission for a year; I couldn't walk, I couldn't sing, I couldn't do anything with work. So it was kind of a rough year.

Even when I was hurt with triple ACL reconstructive surgeries, there was a target on my back. I had to come back and fight through it.

It's my style, and I'll sink or swim on that style. What you heard on 3AW is what you'll hear on Triple M, and if people don't like it, then it's time for me to become a full-time grandfather.

When I was in Class II, we used to walk about 5 km. to school. I did not know of Olympics or even athletics then. One day, a friend went in a car and left me behind. I was so angry, I wanted to run and outrace the car. I ran so fast that I tripped and fractured my knee.

A stepping-stone can be a stumbling block if we can't see it until after we have tripped over it.