Andrea Navedo Quotes

Basically, all my life I'd been told you can't do that because you're female. So I guess I just didn't pay any attention. I just went ahead and did what I could and then, when the stars aligned, I was ready.

I have to work extra hard because I am dyslexic. People said that I couldn't be an actress, but I'm proving them wrong. Acting has helped me overcome the challenge.

When I was at school, most people were planning on going to university and becoming doctors or lawyers. I wanted to be a singer, and I was laughed at. It was tough, but I never let anything stop me.

I feel like I've been proving people wrong all my life.

If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. That's why I play. If I made it in New York, you can make it anywhere.

Dr. King used to say, 'I was sitting in the back of the bus, but my mind was always up front.' Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do it. You aim high and you work very hard and now I think it's clear that you can be anything you want to.

I've had a very unusual background in science - not the usual route of planning on being a scientist from age 3. I think my story shows that success is more about personal motivation and determination than it is about where you were born or what your economic status was.

When people keep telling you that you can't do a thing, you kind of like to try it.

When I was young, a lot of things were closed off to me. I was always told, 'Don't do this, you can't do that' - instead of stopping me, it made me think, 'I can do that, I must do that.'

I want to be an example of a guy who made something of himself out of nothing. A guy who overcame the odds of a tough childhood, who worked hard, who didn't let his surroundings get the best of him and lead him to jail or the graveyard. Where I ended up - being a comedian, a TV star, and a movie actor - might be unique, but my story is not.

I was told millions of times that I was never going to achieve what I set out to, but I decided to do it, and I did it.

I started off as a model and struggled for some time until I got a break as an actress. I was too stubborn to let go and was sure I was in the right place at the right time. I just fought and I think that's how I am where I am today.

I grew up in this poor place, with very limited circumstances, at about 16 years of age was sent by my family to work, and instead of remaining in the position into which I was sent, I somehow worked my way out of it without any help from anyone, just luck.

I never let prejudice stop me from what I wanted to do in this life.

If I were to listen to people all the time when they say, 'Hey, this is a really high challenge, this is a high climb, the bar is pretty steep,' then I wouldn't have gone to the academy. I wouldn't have become an aircraft carrier pilot. I wouldn't have become a Navy SEAL for sure. And I probably wouldn't have applied to Harvard.

Sometimes, of course, I could not belong to the boys club, but that's OK. There are always ways to do what I wanted to do. It doesn't really matter so much to me.

I let the whole 'Grease' experience be a springboard for me. I wanted to use the exposure I got from that very wisely to continue a successful career. It's taken a lot of work and perseverance.

I was always told that I was too small, too skinny, too slow, not tough enough, and I never ever believed what people told me.

Growing up in the rural south, my family didn't look like our neighbors, and we didn't have much. There were times that were tough, but we had each other, and we had the opportunity to do anything, to be anything, as long as we were willing to work for it.

My sights have always been on acting, on the creative process, never the lifestyle. Growing up in Northern Ireland when I did, everything was against you if you wanted to do something like that. But I was determined.

America is built around this premise that you can do it, and there are an awful lot of people who are unlikely to have done it who did.

My father graduated from high school and didn't go to college and still found his way.

It doesn't matter who you are. It can happen to anybody. We have Kenyan, Dominican Republic and even Scandinavian Olympic gold medalists. All you need is will power.

We can do it all and have it all. That's what I want young women to know. Make their own music. If nobody's making music for them, make your own. Do what you are passionate about and don't let anybody or anything stop you or convince you that you are not worthy.

I am not merely a baseball player. I am a black man who has done what he wants, gotten what he wanted, and will continue to get it.