DJ Qualls Quotes

I was totally picked on, but look at me now! I was definitely picked on by boys and girls. I was really lanky and skinny and the boys would say, 'Turn sideways and stick out your tongue, you look like a zipper.'

When I was a kid, the idea of why I wanted acting to be the thing I do for the rest of my life was different. It was, Oh yeah, I'll get girls and be famous.

What starts the process, really, are laughs and slights and snubs when you are a kid. If your anger is deep enough and strong enough, you learn that you can change those attitudes by excellence, personal gut performance.

When I was in first grade, the kids called me 'fatso.' It hurt, but the way I overcame it was to outrun every kid in the class. So I developed a thick skin, and athletics became my way of performing and being accepted.

Over the years, I've gotten a little bit thick-skinned when it comes to the acting thing.

I never had a desire to be famous... I was fat. I didn't know any fat famous actresses... You know, once a fat kid, always a fat kid. Because you always think that you just look a little bit wrong or a little bit different from everyone else. And I still sort of have that.

I developed my armour at prep school. I was the smallest guy in the school. I got bullied a lot. So I developed broad shoulders.

It might come off as cocky, but I've been through a lot in my life.

I was bullied a lot, being a kid, so I feel like I'm standing out because I realize who I really am.

Kids used to pick on me because I was quiet, I was an easy target. But I wasn't quiet because I was scared.

A lot of people underestimated me, and I'm used to that.

I've had enough rejection for 33 years. I don't need more.

Failure never goes to my heart, and success never goes to my head.

I was a fat kid. I can laugh now. But I got teased about being an Oompa Loompa and stuff like that.

I got joked on. You had people saying I was stupid, that I was lame, that I was feminine, this and that. I was like, 'OK, but I'm still gonna be successful, and you're not.'

It takes experience to get through your lows.

A few girls would be catty and say that my voice sounded really high, and I sang like a chipmunk, I got a few prank calls about that a few times. But it didn't really bother me that much. I think I was so focused on music that nothing could break me or get in my way.

I faced challenges as a kid, but who hasn't? A lot of people have experienced far worse. I was bullied, sure, and it was painful at the time. I even quit high school to get away from it. But I've never been the kind of person to let my past predict my future.

Being teased and losing my self value eventually ended up inspiring me to be a better version of myself.

Guys want to make a name for themselves, they look at my age and think they will run over me. It's not like that, though. I'm tougher than that.

I'm not afraid of falling or failing, because I've failed many times, and I learned from them.

You have to be mentally strong to withstand the ridicule of other children and the stares of adults.

You know, I've been hit with a Greb boot in the face and I've been spat on. And my kids light up when they hear these stories. It really takes their minds off their troubles.

I had to overcome bullies and other people who didn't like me and tormented me. I overcame those things with positive affirmations and setting goals. When I would set goals, I wouldn't let anything get in the way of me breaking them. As I found success, a lot of those things subsided and became less important.

Sometimes, my weakness is where the strength really is, and it leads me to depend in the areas where I really should.