I have bad reflexes. I was once run over by a car being pushed by two guys.

From my close observation of writers… they fall into two groups: 1) those who bleed copiously and visibly at any bad review, and 2) those who bleed copiously and secretly at any bad review.

‚Tis one thing to be tempted, another thing to fall.

I went through every emotion with tryna pursue what I’m doing, you know what I mean? And I think what’s gon‘ separate whoever’s gon go for something, that you ain’t gon‘ quit.

Everything in the world may be endured except continual prosperity.

People in tough times – it doesn’t mean they don’t have a great attitude.

Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.

People say you have to hit rock bottom, and, I can tell you, almost dying is as rock bottom as it gets.

I got the stern end of the stick. It was kind of that iron fist. I am who I am today because of my mother.

I will not be triumphed over.

Every time there has been an effort by the Haitian people to overcome the misery and poverty that comes from 200 years of bitter attacks, really bitter, the U.S. steps in and blocks it.

Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.

You get to a point where it’s like you can’t really do anything right, and people will pick on you for whatever decisions you make, so I just try and take no notice and get on with my music.

About the time we can make the ends meet, somebody moves the ends.

I’m not resigned, but I’m realistic too. The statistics in my case are very poor. Not many people come through esophageal cancer and live to talk about it, or not for long. And the other wager is, the part of the wager, it’s a certainty you’ll have a terrible time and you may wish you were dying because it’s an awful process.

The man who has done his level best… is a success, even though the world may write him down a failure.

War is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow.

Thirty-three-years-old, still creating art. It’s rage, it’s creativity, it’s pain, it’s hurt, but it’s the opportunity to still have my voice get out there through music.

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.

If you don’t stand your ground, then all that happens is people push you backwards.

My mother raised me with God. We were poor financially, but we were rich spiritually.

Sometimes you must suffer through something to defeat your fear of it.

I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.

When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.

When I was 8 years old I became a mute and was a mute until I was 13, and I thought of my whole body as an ear, so I can go into a crowd and sit still and absorb all sound. That talent or ability has lasted and served me until today.

A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them.

I grew up with my career being thrust upon me. It took me a long time to believe that I could do more than that one aspect of our business.

I worked out early on to give up things I couldn’t do well at all.

I’ll never, ever be full. I’ll always be hungry. Obviously, I’m not talking about food. Growing up, I had nothing for such a long time. Someone told me a long time ago, and I’ve never forgotten it, ‚Once you’ve ever been hungry, really, really hungry, then you’ll never, ever be full.‘

Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.

Remembering what you’ve been through and how that has strengthened your mindset can lift you out of a negative brain loop and help you bypass those weak, one-second impulses to give in. Even if you’re feeling low and beat down by life right now, I guarantee you can think of a time or two when you overcame odds and tasted success.

Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.

Difficulties are things that show a person what they are.

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.

When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic.

One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.

The experience of pain or loss can be a formidably motivating force.

If you have the ability to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and start over, you come out stronger because you learn from whatever mistakes you made.

I was raised in a family where vulnerability was barely tolerated: no training wheels on our bicycles, no goggles in the pool, just get it done. And so I grew up not only with discomfort about my own vulnerability, I didn’t care for it in other people either.

There is nothing happens to any person but what was in his power to go through with.

No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.

I have never been bewildered for long in any fight with our enemies – I was Armed with Insight.

Our vanity is hardest to wound precisely when our pride has just been wounded.

If God treats you well by teaching you a disastrous lesson, you never forget it.

Even when folks are hitting you over the head, you can’t stop marching. Even when they’re turning the hoses on you, you can’t stop.

You’re not a product of your nature. That is your genetic makeup or your nurture, the things that have happened to you. Of course those things affect you powerfully, but they do not determine you.

Nobody, as long as he moves about among the chaotic currents of life, is without trouble.

I know this sounds strange, but as a kid, I was really shy. Painfully shy. The turning point was freshman year, when I was the biggest geek alive. No one, I mean no one, even talked to me.

Under the worst conditions, horrendous conditions, people still, you know, fight for their rights and don’t just succumb.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.

Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force.

Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.

Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.

I’m sure like everyone else I’m not always the happiest if I don’t do a good job in quali or the race or whatever, so I think beating myself up sometimes makes me work harder.

There’s nothing I have to hide or defend. I’m gonna live my life. And there are times when people wanna try to attack me, and I don’t know why, but they will. And that’s okay.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

If I should ever be captured, I want no negotiation – and if I should request a negotiation from captivity they should consider that a sign of duress.

A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances.

When my ancestors came from Africa, they were shackled by our neck, our wrists, and our ankles in steel chains. I’ve turned those steel chains into gold to symbolize the fact that I’m still a slave, only my price tag is higher.