Ken Venturi Quotes

There were periods during my childhood when I stammered so badly I couldn't talk at all.

Part of what was in the ether all around me growing up, until I was between 19 and 20, was a terrible, debilitating stutter. It was part of what made me very reclusive as a kid.

I think the stigma surrounding mental illness and also the stigma surrounding self-esteem issues or insecurities or just even feeling different is something that doesn't really get enough attention. Everybody struggles with feeling alone or that they are going through something they don't quite understand.

I was a closet stutterer.

Never having alone time is real tough on people.

You know you lose a lot of social skills if you're a writer. You spend too long alone. And its forced me to address that.

I've led a very isolated existence since I was 6 years old. It's kind of been me and my mind.

If you're a kid, it's all you think about if you stutter. Kids can be so mean. My grades suffered. Class participation weighs heavy in grading, and I wouldn't open my mouth to read or talk in front of anyone.

I had this terrible stammer, so I couldn't really speak properly until I was 16 or 17.

I never got to go to prom. I never went to regular school. I ate lunch by myself.

I think all teenagers feel alone, and that nobody else knows what they are going through and all that sort of stuff.

From my earliest days I have enjoyed an attractive impediment in my speech. I have never permitted the use of the word stammer. I can't say it myself.

I've stammered all my life, and it's fair to say that my stammer has shaped my life. It's made me make some decisions that I'm sure I wouldn't have if I didn't suffer with this affliction.

At school I was always taller than the rest of my class, and because I was an only child, I was comfortable with adults but shy and awkward with other kids. I was quiet, bookish, and in spite of my size, hopeless at sports. In short, I was different. And even in the earliest grades, I got pounded for it.

I live alone, so I don't really talk to anyone once I'm home. I have some silent nights.

I don't know that I spent any more time alone than any other kid, but being by myself never bothered me.

I had a bad stutter when I was really young. I couldn't get a sentence out. Like, 'D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-ad.' And that turned into a mumble.

I spend my life essentially alone at a computer. That doesn't change. I have the same challenges every day.

I will always have a stutter.

I felt so alone as a boy because no one wanted to be friends with me.

I spent a lot of time alone; I left school to be tutored. So, most of my companions were animals. It's as simple as that. I knew more animals than I did people.

To have your parents get divorced at a young age, there's a lot of turbulence. We all grew up together, in some way. It was not idyllic. It was intense, vibrant, sometimes oppressive. I felt I was very much in a world of my own. I didn't meld much in school. I was kind of a loner.

I was nervous to even talk to other kids in my class. I would hide in my room when my parents had people over.

The fact is, it wasn't enjoyable being in secondary school. I was a weird kid.

Sometimes I go totally anti-social.