Paul Erdos Quotes

When I had no roof I made audacity my roof.

I have a different kind of experience than other girls had. I've had to face a lot of different styles and adjust to them. I had to face a lot of bad situations and come back. I've had to fight with my eyes swollen shut and my nose broken and bloody.

In Kurdistan, there's a lot of hardship - a lot of wars, a lot of bitter and difficult lifestyles. And witnessing all those made me a director.

The first few years in L.A. were really tough and scary, but I had to figure things out for myself.

I remember as a little boy I ate one meal a day and sometimes slept in the street. I will never forget that and it inspires me to fight hard, stay strong and remember all the people of my country, trying to achieve better for themselves.

I starved and slept on park benches. I wrapped myself in the pages of my manuscript to keep warm. For two and a half years I took odd jobs; nothing was going to deter me.

I was homeless for a little bit. I was on people's couches, but it was an amazing journey. I got to make people laugh all the way.

I've lived through a lifetime of crises and survived.

I learned a lot in those first years in Miami, while struggling just for survival, by observing my father's fortitude.

But we did the best we could and in the end some of us had to get day jobs and start fresh.

I was homeless for about 8 months, I refused to live with my dad or anyone for that matter. So I stayed somewhere that had no hot water, ever, no heat, I told myself I have to be strong and get through it on my own.

You cannot survive in our part of the world unless you have a certain amount of optimism.

I spent eight years living without heat and hot water.

Growing up in a trailer, you think everything you get is good. I always thought it was a gift from God, because some people are out here struggling and on the street. We had warmth. We had clothes. We had a roof over our head.

It's the way of life in Saginaw. If you're not tough, you don't survive.

When I was little, I remember rehearsing starving so that when I got to New York I would know how to do it.

My biggest inspiration has been life for me. Basic survival has been my biggest teacher. Surviving in Mumbai for so many years has been a huge ordeal.

I do what I've got to do to survive, to keep my teeth in my head, and my head on my shoulders. I apologize to whoever can't put that together and understand that.

When you grow up in poverty and learn how to survive it, it's something that stays with you forever.

I've been fighting for my life before and sleeping in cars and trying to find a place to lay my head. I've had situations where I've had nowhere to go. This is the easy part. I overcame life.

If I can make it through homelessness, I can make it through anything.

I lived on the street myself.

When you've been around a snake long enough, you learn how to crawl in the dirt.

New York is just New York. It's a hard city, it's a hard city to live in. It's a desperate city. It's filled with scam artists and people who are always looking for a way in and a way out and the majority of people have to really negotiate their way through that jungle to get to the other side; the other side being a place of tranquility and peace and home and safety.

I've seen my family work so hard and come up, and I've seen it all get taken away. I had to man up, and part of that was sleeping in my car, getting an apartment for a month, and getting evicted the next month. Staying in the $25 - $35 hotels. I just never panicked. I stayed focused and I never surrendered.