Quotes About Survival

I had a mild case of polio as a child. Not enough to cripple me, but it was polio. I still have an atrophy on the right side of my back.

Education is our only political safety. Outside of this ark all is deluge.

Times were very hard if you were a poor, politically correct Jewish girl living in the east end of London during the Blitz and you were trying to eke out a living as a hairdresser.

I was labeled 'P-E-A,' which is patient expired on arrival. I guess that's the politically correct way of saying you didn't make it.

I was what they call a pool hustler. That's absolutely true. For long periods of time I got by, barely skimmed by, just playing pool.

I was one of the poorest people in America.

We have three billion people, half the world's population today, living on less than two dollars a day.

'The Leftovers' takes place three years after 2% of the population has gone missing. And it's about how that changes society. Cults form as a result, and it drastically changes home life for a lot of people, including the Garvey family, which is the family I belong to.

The fighting back by indigenous people started in 1900: OK, they've cornered us. Our population is almost gone; they've defeated us. From there, the modern Indian rights movement started, and it was a very hard fight, with a lot of stuff going against them.

If you've ever been in a position in your life where you just can't take any more, you just have to get through the next second, and the next second after that.

The reason that I like 'Game of Thrones' is because it's based on all these royal families. And it's cutthroat - just like hip-hop. It's all about positioning and figuring out who's going to last.

A lot of animals are finding themselves in positions where their habitats are being destroyed.

I started working in an STD phone booth where I had to note down all the numbers that were dialed - this was post 9/11 when security was a looming issue. I got Rs 10 per day for my work. Soon after, a benefactor offered me a job in a cybercafe down the road for Rs 20.

In North Korea I thought a frozen potato was the fanciest food in the world.

Even that was all consumed after two days, and the patients had to try to choke down fresh fish, just boiled in water, without salt, pepper or butter; mutton, beef, and potatoes without the faintest seasoning.

When you're poor, an egg sandwich is dinner and you cut your potatoes with a butter knife.

What's happened to society is we've become really pretentious. But there was a time in my life where I really had to choose between boiling potatoes and paying my gas bill, so I'd buy a can of potatoes.

America has faced much more difficult times, including potential national extinction, without flinching.

Poverty of course is no disgrace, but it is damned annoying.

Music has empowered me through poverty, abuse, and mental-health issues.

You know how people love to glamorize poverty? There's nothing glamorous about it. But it did make me really creative. Those days, I was literally taking t-shirts in the day and sewing them back together to make dresses for the night.

I've never experienced chronic poverty, but I know what it's like to live on £3 a week.

Every day alive in the 'Power' world is a beautiful day.

Had I been a contestant in 'Squid Game,' I would have died doing the dalgona.