Andy Roddick Quotes

I'm a big believer in personal responsibility. My life wasn't always peaches and roses. Where I am today is through a belief in hard work and never saying no.

I thought about the problems I had growing up: how I prioritised football over school, but people were telling me I wouldn't make it, that it wasn't possible. The thing is, I did make it, thanks to my own will and determination and the help of some people I had around me in my hometown.

Work hard for what you want because it won't come to you without a fight. You have to be strong and courageous and know that you can do anything you put your mind to. If somebody puts you down or criticizes you, just keep on believing in yourself and turn it into something positive.

I worked hard to get where I am. And I started with nothing.

I struggled to get through high school. I didn't get to go to college. But it made me realize you can do anything if you want to bad enough.

When the time came for me to go to college, there was only one scholarship that my high school offered at the time and I didn't win that one, but that didn't stop me. I went on to college anyway. I worked my way through it and paid my student loans for 11 years.

Nothing was ever handed to me. My hope is that when people read my story, it will inspire them to reach for their goals and not give up. The real story is this: if I can do it, you can, too.

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

Everything in life is a fight. Everybody wants this microwavable life, and it doesn't work like that. I'm here to say, 'See what I went through? Look at me now.'

Anything is possible. My background is a bad background, but a lot of people said I couldn't do it. You can do anything if you put your mind to it.

I had no money, no training facilities, no snow, no ski jumps, no trainer, but I still managed to ski jump for my country - and getting there was my gold medal.

I come from zero and I've had to push myself up to where I am today. I'm not going to give up and I'm going to keep pushing.

Just to show I had everything working against me: I'm small, my memory isn't all there, but I was a hard worker and I wanted people to realize, you may have weight problems working against you, height problems, whatever, but you can still conquer it and go for your dreams.

My father worked with a first-grade education in this country and managed every single day without a hiccup.

I'm just grateful that I didn't give up on myself and I just kept plugging at it.

It was a miracle that I became an actress. I survived because of hard work and perseverance.

My mom and dad both worked when I was little... My mom, her mom died when she was 11, so she had a rough childhood as well. She put herself through college in three years at the University of Texas - while working a job to pay for it.

The thing that I think about the most, and is the most rewarding to me, is the whole past. That I kind of went from nothing to something and I did it on my own, and I did it through hard work and smarts.

I'm a poor kid from the streets. What I've been able to achieve has really just been through hard work and not letting anyone tell me that I couldn't do something. I always try to encourage people to just pursue your dreams.

I was never pegged to be the next great American tennis player by any means. I wasn't a prodigy. I'm a late bloomer. Whatever happens, I'm proud of what I've done.

I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.

I know that I'm going to have to work hard, keep working hard, and not because of this victory think, 'I'm back.' I don't think like that. I'll definitely work hard. Things are not going to be easy. I might lose first round next week. You never know.

When I was a child, kids used to make fun of me because I was blind. But I just became more curious, 'How can I climb this tree and get an apple for this girl?' That's what mattered to me.

When I graduated from Parsons School of Design, the dean at that time said I would never be a designer. Obviously I didn't listen.

In spite of my lack of education, I didn't lack direction.