Tony Todd Quotes

I know that a lot of people take inspiration from the fact that I was just a common man with no film background who turned into a star.

People only look at you and say, 'You are black and you are from the banlieue,' and all the doors are closed. I had the desire to be something else. If I see a door that is a little open, I will find a way to get through.

A lot of times when people become successful, people don't really understand what they had to do or the sacrifices they made to do that, or they assume that they had money. This is coming from, like, a kid who was broke and lived with roaches and a single mom in Dorchester.

I was brought up by a single mom in a poor town in Arkansas and while some aspects of small-town life were really positive - like the fact that everyone there is really sweet and hospitable - there is also this close-minded mentality, and that naturally made me want to rebel.

My mom raised us three boys by herself on welfare. It's not worse than anybody else's life.

I'm raised by a single mom and didn't have pops around for the most part of my life. And she, by any means necessary, gave me the best opportunities that she knew how to give me.

I went from just a regular nappy-headed kid in poverty to Amar'e Stoudemire, New York Knicks captain superstar. But there's a lot in between that allowed me to get from point A to point B.

When I made my Broadway debut, I was still cleaning houses, something I'd done since I went out on my own at 15.

My mom grew up in poverty in Oklahoma - like Dust Bowl, nine people in one room kind of place - and the way she got out of poverty was through education. My dad grew up without a dad, with very little and he also made his way out through education.

I hope telling the story of how I went from being a single mom to serving in the Texas State Senate to running for governor will remind others that with the right leadership in government, where you start has nothing to do with how far you go.

I'm living proof that you can make it out of the ghetto.

My father came from nothing, so he believed that people could do anything if they worked hard enough. I think he liked that I chose to be an actor. Both he and my mom were totally supportive.

I came from a very poor background. I came from children's homes; I came from a violent family, and against all the odds, I succeeded.

I became a writer in spite of my environments.

I came from nothing really to something; I came from the gutter to making the gutters.

I don't do stuff to be a star. I do it because I feel it's important for kids, African American kids, to see an African American face that plays baseball.

I went to an historically black college where we're always told that there's limitation. And so I'm happy to represent for black colleges.

I am a single mom and I'm the breadwinner and I have to work and I have to do these things and that's just the way it is. I don't think my son even knows any different.

A little bit about my family: We didn't really come from much, and we didn't take family trips to California, so my first trip to California was actually my first day of school.

Dreams do come true, even for someone who couldn't speak English and never had a music lesson or much of an education.

It is not good nor honorable for a Confederate Lord [legislative representative] to allow his people whom he has called to go hungry.

I am not a product of privilege, I am a product of opportunity

I wanted to prove to people it doesn't matter if you come from a small little island: that you can make it in this industry.

I just grew up a poor black kid in Alabama with a single mom and two brothers.

I was 17 and out of school, living with my mom, starving, not eating, getting locked up, no focus, no guidance. When you ain't got no guidance, you can't do too much. But then I had my first son and started working. I got the right people around me.