Tavis Smiley Quotes

I remember feeling enormous pressure because I didn't want to be Shirley Temple. Shirley Temple was Shirley Temple, and I didn't ever feel like I could live up to that.

I have a lot of eyes on me because of basketball, a lot of young people looking up to me. It's made me grow up faster.

I understand that a lot of girls feel encouraged by what I have been able to do, but I've never felt like I'm a role model. I'm not concerned with building a great legacy or anything because I'll be dead so it won't matter.

Well, when you're the youngest of five, parents kind of lose interest more and more through the children. I think my eldest brother was under loads of pressure to do something amazing with his life, but by the time I came around they were like, 'Well, let's hope he doesn't kill a guy.'

I've had to grow up with everyone watching me, which has been hard.

It is not always a treat to grow up as the heir to a world-famous leader.

I could completely do without the fame. It makes me self-conscious. It is a responsibility. I believe that if people look up to you in any way, especially kids, then you have a responsibility to inspire them, both in your work and in your life. So, for me, that is a weight.

I liked the fact that my father had a lot of expectations from my brother. I probably wanted to be that person who he could be proud of.

It's crazy that people are looking to me as a symbol like, 'Oh, he's the voice of the youth. He's this and this and that.' I feel like there's a lot of pressure that comes with it, when people look to you as the face of something.

I've dealt every day of my life with my dad's career, the comparisons to him, with people wanting me to live up to him. I just put that stuff out of my head, I don't even hear it after awhile - I just turn my ears off.

When you have a big family, certainly with strong personalities, you feel like you have to fall into a role, and I didn't want to be the little sister or the daughter, because that's who you become as an adult.

I guess the most difficult thing for me was living up to my mom's expectations. I was always scared that if I didn't do things in this certain way, then my mom just wouldn't think I was great. That's something that was difficult for me growing up.

Beckham was a great inspiration to me growing up.

I hate comparisons, just as I hated being compared to my brother and vice-versa.

Not once did I feel pressurised that I was stepping into Mr. Bachchan's shoes. I don't say I didn't feel the pressure of starring in a remake of 'Zanjeer,' but somewhere, that worked to my advantage.

It's a complicated dynamic sometimes, mothers and daughters. There's this thing of, like, 'This is a model of womanhood for you,' but yet we find so many reasons why we don't want to be like our mother.

It's getting harder as I get more known. Even though it's my break, I couldn't really go out and get drunk - because people expect you to be training and getting up early. But I'm not bothered about missing out on normal teenage things.

When you grow up, you don't realize that your parents are any different than anybody else's. And their behavior - you have nothing to compare it to. So that is what normal is, even if it's abnormal.

I know, if I would have won 'X-Factor' and if I would have continued in that lane, I would have spiraled out of control. Performing on there was good, but it wasn't me. It was me compromising for the judges, just different people around.

I came back from the Olympic Games, and straightaway, I'm this role model. So that means I can't mess around with my mates like I used to because, if I do, people are going to use it to knock me down.

When you're famous, you have a certain sense of responsibility because so many people are looking at you for inspiration and for influence.

It's always nerve-wracking when people say they look up to you or that you're a good role model. It's such a double-edged sword, because you realize you've been put on this pedestal, and you have to make sure that you don't do anything to get torn down.

No matter what I do, unless I break his records, I'm still going to be Sterling's little brother.

I have to just come to work every single day. That's not just on the field but off the field, because you have little kids looking up to you; your face is the face of this franchise and this university. You have to understand that every decision that you make is going to be criticized.

I know there'll be comparisons, but I consider it an honor to be compared to Audrey Hepburn. She's a legend.