American Quotes

Rationality is not one of this industry's attributes.

Most other competitions are individual achievements, but the Olympic Games is something that belongs to everybody.

Male figure skating is different than female figure skating; we're not America's sweetheart.

I'm very accessible. I don't get into this ego thing.

I was nine-years-old when I first put on skates.

I was more interested in skating and the girls and traveling than I was in calculus.

I started skating and I kind of liked it because I could run circles around the guys that wouldn't pick me to play baseball.

I graduated a the top of my class in the '84 Olympic Games; I won a gold medal.

I don't think most teachers realize how much impact they have.

I didn't want to be the sissy figure skater, you know.

Half of figure skating is opinion, convincing judges.

From the fall of October, 1980 to March, 1984 I never lost a competition.

But I never really thought that I would be extraordinarily successful at skating, it's just something that happened, you know.

And the fact that I liked to show off and be the center of attention really lends itself to figure skating very well.

And so figure skating was a great vehicle for me to kind of be competitive at something, without having to be big.

I just try to touch people's hearts in a way through skating, so they're not just witnessing a performance, they're feeling a performance and they're a part of it.

Fame is a very confusing thing, because you are recognized by a lot of people that you've never seen before, and they're at a great advantage.

I had a ninth grade teacher who told me I was much smarter and much better than I was allowing myself to be.

Everything that I've ever been able to accomplish in skating and in life has come out of adversity and perseverance.

Always try to maintain complete tolerance and always make an effort to give people more than they expect.

The high road is always respected. Honesty and integrity are always rewarded.

Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.

The only disability in life is a bad attitude.

It's not subtle or restrained. It's not any of the things you like to think apply to your acting.

Well, I think it's important to stand as an advocate for the mentally ill.

My journey has been so full of struggle and I just want to be able to offer some help and some general ideas to people that really need it the most.

It's the age of information and we need to just get as informed as we can about what other things might help us live healthy lives.

I carry Yeats with me wherever I go. He's my constant companion. I always can find some comfort in Yeats no matter what the situation is. Months and months and months go by and I know I need to switch to Shelley or somebody else, but right now Yeats is enough for me.

As a teenager, even as a younger girl, I had some depression but no one really noticed that it was depression nor did I know in those days that that's what it was but I did feel different from other people.

My heart is so light that it's amazing. I get to play all this grief, all this loss, all this disaster and chaos. It's hysterically funny. I am very light.