Katie Ledecky Quotes

My life is proof that I don't need you to do what I do. If there's no one to see it, I'll watch it.

I developed a sense of maturity when it comes to being dependent upon other people. I don't feel anyone really truly wants me to win more than I do.

I don't think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good.

I don't like to do something just to prove I can do it.

I wanted to prove to myself I can do something on my own. Not for the world, but for myself. To have that self-confidence.

I have never been worried about the future. I will always be able to drive my own feet.

No one else has ever opened doors for me. I opened them myself.

I always knew that I would have to make it on my own somehow.

There's always a lot of talk about motivation to race, but nobody really knows what I do or what I think apart from myself, so I don't really care what people think.

No one ever taught me how to shave; no one ever sat down to watch a Braves game with me. I paid for Yale myself, I lived by myself, I taught myself how to play the guitar. I did this all on my own.

I'll always continue to work. I've never much depended on anyone but myself, as far as that goes.

I am my own cheerleader. I am the one who puts my goals, who pushes myself to get to the next goal. I don't have someone next to me saying, 'Here you go, now do this, it's your next step, go for it.'

I've always wanted to call the shots because I would rather fail than not have a chance to figure it out on my own.

But I've had to act and not depend on my voice so much.

Graduate school is a really supportive environment, but in a way, it was only when that support vanished that I flourished.

I just come do what I've got to do, play my game. And I don't worry if anybody likes it.

I don't need to be motivated by anybody. Never have.

Women call me all the time and tell me, 'You inspired me to get out of a bad situation,' or 'You inspired me to take the reigns for myself and go and do this.' I try to tell people to live their best life, and do what you know you need to do for yourself and your family. You need to be supported.

I'm just totally into being strong. There's something about wanting to get a jar or whatever out of a high cupboard, or moving a sofa over because my dog's bone rolled under it, and not having to call anyone for help. There's comfort in that.

We all have to work for happiness. And you cannot listen to other people. That is the worst mistake you can make.

I like strength. I depend on my own.

I will be making films, and I'm going to keep working, no matter what I have to do. And I don't plan to ever ask for permission from anybody.

I'm just an individual who doesn't feel that I need to have somebody qualify my work in any particular way. I'm working for me.

I learned not to depend on other people. I needed support, but it's you who has to go out and deliver.

We can and we will solve our problems for ourselves. We know how. We can, and we will.