Quotes About Hardship

I never went into the mine. But I saw my father and other men coming out, day after day, their faces and bodies covered in soot. It looked very hard and dangerous.

I come from a very working class background. My dad worked in a factory for 40 years. We all put ourselves through school.

My father passed away when I was two, and my mother was just 22-years-old back then. So young and only soul to take care of three brats. We were highly in debt and our financial condition was really bad. My mother used to work in a factory, and she used to complete the pending work at home.

Most entertainment careers aren't going to end in fame.

With the abuse, and wear and tear the body takes in this career, it's ridiculous to put in that time and effort and have nothing to show for it.

If I was a stone mason or if I was a painter or building bridges or whatever, there's going to be some wear and tear on your body and your brain. And that's just the way it is.

When guys are in NXT - not me, but the guys who are signed to developmental deals that are there - they're setting up the ring. They're tearing it down. They're working every day at the PC. And it's arduous training, man. Those guys go through a lot.

I call myself the hardware shelf. There's a lot of awards and honors there. And I have earned that. I didn't ask for it, I didn't beg for it, I didn't pay for it. I earned that. People see the accomplishments - but it's good to remind people that so much strife and labor and tears and heartbreak came before that, that it really is earned.

A lot of blood, sweat, and tears have gone into this career of mine.

I went through a lot of hard times. I went through a lot of struggle. A few times, I was in tears. It brought me to my knees just about.

All the energy, all the pain, sweat and tears that go into it, the amount I had to put in to get me to where I had to play, it was more taxing on me physically and mentally than it was good for me.

This means a lot. I'm being recognized for all the blood, sweat and tears I put into a 17-year career.

I remember bumming rides across town to Georgia Tech, trying to get myself registered, trying to apply for financial aid, trying to get their coaches to watch my film.

Hundreds of players have physical and technical talents but very few make it.

Teaching is hard. It takes years to master the technically demanding work and a lot of effort to do that work well.

Coal mining is tough. Acting is just tedious.

Reading was my escape growing up in Ohio. Both of my parents lost their jobs when I was a teen, and it was hard. But I always had my books. Reading gave me a way of living different lives.

I was working on boats as a teenager, sweating like a pig during a summer job.

My father's father died when he was a teenager, and dad went to work to support his mother and two siblings as a carpenter and as a builder's mule, hauling carts of lumber to construction sites when it was too icy for the mules to climb the hills.

All generations of teens have it hard, I think. Each society and century has its struggles that the others can't compare to.

I was born in a council house, my father left school at the age of 11, had his teeth out without anaesthetic at the age of 22.

I did sleep on the floor of my office sometimes. I didn't brush my teeth as often as I should have. I think my hygiene has improved quite a bit.

I got my teeth kicked in for a good 25 years.

Being broke and poor - I mean, you grow up in the environment I grew up in, grew up hard and grew up poor. Your mom doesn't have a car until you make it to the NBA... no telephone. So, I mean, if you grow up like that, and you're able to make it to this level and be blessed the way I've been blessed, it's always great to give back.