Sam Taylor-Johnson Quotes

Having cancer is one thing; looking like you have cancer is another thing. It's a disease that already takes so much.

The language surrounding cancer is not language I'm particularly comfortable with.

I don't feel that this is unfair. That's the thing about cancer. I'm not the only one; it happens all the time to people. I'm not special.

It seems everybody has been somehow affected by cancer, either through a relative or a close friend or somewhere, and they know how devastating cancer can be. And they see me, and I refuse to let it affect how I live and what I do.

I was in the closet, so to speak, until after the fifth year when I was cancer-free.

When they told me I had cancer - a very rare form called appendiceal cancer - I was shocked. But I went straight into battle mode. Every morning, I'd wake up and have an internal conversation with cancer. 'All right, dude,' I'd tell it, 'go ahead and hit me. But I'm going to hit you back even harder.'

To be diagnosed with cancer was a frightening thing, and my first reaction was sheer panic, but I was really fortunate that the cancer was caught at such an early stage that I didn't need chemo or radiotherapy. But I know that cancer is a chronic condition, and once you've had it, you're on the list, because it can come back.

You're never really cancer-free and I should have known that.

We talk about cancer as a noun, as if it's a one time event: 'I've got cancer.'

If you've ever had a brush with cancer, you're always thinking a pain might be something serious.

I'd like to prove to other people that it's not the end of everything to be diagnosed with cancer.

Once you are diagnosed with cancer, time changes. It both speeds up insanely and stops altogether.

I get a lot of letters, mostly from family members who have been affected by cancer rather than young people themselves. I reply to them all.

I am the only 'celebrity' to be public about my lung cancer.

People's view of cancer will change when they have their own relationship with cancer, which everyone will, at some point.

I suppose I didn't cry in all the cancer crap stuff because I felt I couldn't lose the battle, and part of the battle was holding myself together.

At my age, I don't think anyone is untouched by cancer.

When I was diagnosed I didn't know how epidemic cancer was. You find out that everybody you know is touched by this disease.

In America, we have always taken it as an article of faith that we 'battle' cancer; we attack it with knives, we poison it with chemotherapy or we blast it with radiation. If we are fortunate, we 'beat' the cancer. If not, we are posthumously praised for having 'succumbed after a long battle.'

As J.R. I could get away with anything - bribery, blackmail and adultery. But I got caught by cancer. I do want everyone to know that it is a very common and treatable form of cancer. I will be receiving treatment while working on the new 'Dallas' series.

Hodgkin's is serious and I don't want to be dismissive about it, but there are people who have gone through much worse and lost their lives to cancer.

Now I'm fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how's your day, and nothing is changed for me.

The battle against cancer has made me strong. It's like winning a war! When I was diagnosed, I was told by doctors my kidney, liver and other organs could fail. It was tough. I didn't know if I could save my life. But I was positive, and because of that, the doctor told me that I would be a man who would never have cancer.

What really got me focused on cancer was when my best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, and even though she was a well-to-do person, I found that her treatment costs were crippling.

Everyone needs to be proactive and know the various warning signs of cancer. Early detection and research to make detection easier at earlier stages, along with the treatments needs, is still a must. I salute all those winning the battle.