Quotes About Adversity

My life hasn't always been a disaster, it's just that when it has, it's been a spectacular disaster.

I've gone the full spectrum - from gospel to blues to jazz to soul to pop - and the public has accepted what I've done through it all. I think it means I've been doing something right at the right time.

I hated my childhood. It was loathsome. My parents were deaf and dumb. Profoundly so. They could make noises when they were emotionally aroused, but they couldn't form it into speech.

Even if the country is run by a Mussolini, free speech will find its way.

One time I was doing a speech to a group of kids, and just before I get there, I see this little kid crying. I found out they just lost a game, and he was the losing pitcher. I went over there, put my arm around him, and said, 'What are you crying for? When major league players lose, they don't cry.'

I'm not the sort to back away from a fight. I don't believe in shrinking from anything. It's not my speed; I'm a guy who meets adversities head on.

I think every ounce of pain in just living always ends up being the best thing that happened to me. It's always a growth period. I learn at the speed of pain.

It's one thing to be 100 percent and go out and play football feeling great. It's another thing when you're not feeling good. You're sick, or you got a nagging injury, and you gotta go out in the cold and go across the middle where a guy's coming full speed at you trying to kill you.

It's not just fleet of foot or speed. It's about who gets caught and gets knocked out.

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.

It's a whole different world once you get into games. You have people actually trying to hit you, the speed of the game's a lot faster, you have a lot of different things you need to check and see. It's a whole different world up there once game time comes.

When I am behind and I am looking ahead and there is that line in front of you, of that guy, of winning and losing, then I really hang it out there and take big risks to make the speed up, and then I'm pretty good at passing.

I was about 11 or 12 when I started, playing against bigger players. I would use my speed to get out of trouble.

He could rush the passer, he could bull you, he could beat you speed inside and quickness. Those are long days when you had Michael Strahan lining up right over your head for 60 minutes, because most defensive ends are good at one or the other. Michael was really good at both.

In the league, if you have a bad spell, then you are running behind.

During my childhood, I had a long, dangerous spell of illness, and my health has always been delicate.

I had a tough spell under Mourinho where I was in and out of the team, although I did turn a corner with him at one stage before injuries unfortunately got in my way. He could be a tough person to play for. When you were in favour with him it was great, but when you weren't you could feel like an outcast.

There was only a little spell at Wigan, when I first signed there, when I wasn't in the team every week.

Going on all those loan spells helped me massively. They turned me into a man quicker than I should have.

In football, you can't always have it your own way. You can't always have the good times. You are going to have bad spells and periods when you are not playing well. It is something I have to deal with. I have learnt to deal with it.

We all go through difficult spells.

I played under Mourinho and went through good and bad spells with him. You could be playing a game and he has it in him to drag you off after half an hour and then he won't talk to you. And that can kill a player.

If I spent my career responding to critics, I'd never be where I'm at right now.

I'd spent my childhood thinking bad things, bad things every day. It had made me sick, but it had made me determined.