Quotes About Opportunity

In my school, the brightest boys did math and physics, the less bright did physics and chemistry, and the least bright did biology. I wanted to do math and physics, but my father made me do chemistry because he thought there would be no jobs for mathematicians.

My father came from a very poor background, but I was very fortunate in the sense that we were never in need. My dad was determined to make sure that we didn't want for things. He wanted to give us more opportunity than he had, a better shot at a better life.

I was never one who sought to make the small man tall by cutting off the legs of a giant. I wanted to drag no man down to my size. Only to preserve a way of life which might make it possible for me, one day, to elevate myself until I at least partly matched his size.

I think my mom and dad both wanted to get across to me that... I obviously grew up with great privilege and was very lucky and was able to afford college and not have student loans, and they would pay for college, but beyond that, it would be up to me to make a living.

I never wanted to let go of the opportunity, and so I hit upon 'VIP 2'.

I just wanted to sing, to get my voice heard. I knew I had to do everything possible to stay in the industry.

They wanted to audition people for the Middle East correspondent on 'The Daily Show.' They wanted to hire somebody ethnic for that slot. Helms had left, Cordry had left, and they felt that they needed an ethnic face. So, I went in and auditioned, and I got the job.

I have always wanted to play at the top of the order.

Obviously, Jay Z definitely got my attention. I thought it was pretty cool that he wanted me on the team.

I read for 'Reservoir Dogs,' and it got down to me and Buscemi, and Quentin couldn't make up his mind. I really wanted that part, but Buscemi is great in that. I also got really close on 'Gladiator,' but Ridley Scott decided on Russell Crowe, who's perfect in it.

I was 11 and living in Kosovo. I knew I wanted to perform but didn't feel like I could do it there. So I moved back to London on my own at 15, carried on going to school, and started posting cover songs online. I had no idea how I was going to become a performer, but I felt like I had so many more opportunities being in London.

Everyone around me does music, so I just kind of knew. It wasn't some magical moment. There were loads of other things I wanted to do. I wanted to be a lawyer, for example, because I just love arguing, but it wasn't on the cards.

I wouldn't call Loopt a failure. It didn't turn out like I wanted, for sure, but it was fun, I learned a lot, and I made enough money to start investing, which led me to my current job. I don't regret it at all.

I didn't want to just be an analyst for women's basketball and volleyball. I didn't just want to be a sideline reporter. I didn't just want to be a host. I wanted to be someone that my producers or coordinating producers could call on me for any event, any subject matter or any role.

I wanted to try every style available to me - large productions, small productions, studio films, low-budget. You just can't sit around and wait for every big-budget film to come along.

I wanted to be a sneaker designer since I was 10; it was my dream to work at Nike and design signature shoes for Michael Jordan and Penny Hardaway. When it was time to select high schools, I wanted to go to one that would help me get a jump-start on my dream.

I wanted very much to do Traffic and at one point it looked like I was going to work on it. And then, of course, Catherine Zeta-Jones had her relationship with Michael Douglas and it suddenly didn't happen.

My friends said I was crazy, but L.A. is the hub of the industry. It's the epicenter of the business. If I wanted to get above the plateau that I had reached in the U.K., I had to make that move.

I think I knew acting was what I wanted to do. But I was from this small town and there was no place for an adult to recognise it.

They wanted to start recording rock 'n roll, and thought I had the right voice.

A friend of my mom's was a casting director so, really as kind of a lark, I had a couple of acting jobs that had just enough exposure to give me the option to continue if I wanted to. I followed through with it.

The acting came about because of a girl. I was 19 and met a girl who wanted to go to the premiere drama school in Australia, the National Institute of Dramatic Arts, where Mel Gibson, Cate Blanchett and many others went. She had an audition, and I went with her for moral support - to cheer her on. I did an audition my way, and it kept going.

I wanted to go to school for public relations, and I also wanted to minor in dance. And Hofstra had two really good programs for both of those, so that's why I ended up there.

The fact is Canadians understand that immigration, that people fleeing for their lives, that people wanting to build a better life for themselves and their kids is what created Canada, it's what created North America.