James Caan Quotes

I always give respect to and pay homage to New York, because I don't feel like I would be the player that I am today if it wasn't for New York City. It gives you a certain edge, a certain toughness just growing up in the city.

I grew up in the Bronx. The Bronx teaches you to survive. It's like, 'Bring it on!'

I know how to read people. When you grow up in a rough environment, you have to have a sixth sense.

One of the things I noticed while I lived in New York City was how different the kids and teens were that grew up there versus, you know, my suburban upbringing. They have this innate resilience and toughness to them, and they're incredibly self-sufficient, usually from a pretty young age.

Mumbai can eat you up or teach you how to survive because it is a tricky city. I guess living in cities like Mumbai or Delhi makes you slightly more street-smart and alert.

You learn to cope with whatever you have to cope with. I spent my childhood in New York, riding on subways and buses. And you know what you learn if you're a New Yorker? The world doesn't owe you a damn thing.

I'm from the streets of New York. I know what tough talk sounds like.

I was very much a tough New York street kid. I went to a school where you had to learn how to get along with everybody or fight with everybody, and I did my fair share of both.

New York is a place that can grind you down and spit you out. A true New Yorker doesn't get ground down - he gets polished.

What's so fascinating about New Yorkers is that each person has a whole lexicon of personal logic in the way that they decipher and do what has to be done to enjoy, stay alive, take pleasure in this place.

I don't need bodyguards. I'm from the South Bronx.

I was drawn to boxing because I got beat up as a kid. I was the kid with the piano books in a New York neighbourhood.

I'm a New Yorker; I've paid my dues.

I was very much a tough New York street kid. I went to a school where you had to learn how to get along with everybody or fight with everybody, and I did my fair share of both. But you have to learn how to get along. I did an awful lot of fighting. I was tough, but I'm also relatively small, so I learned very early on to use my mind.

Brooklyn is not the easiest place to grow up in, although I wouldn't change that experience for anything.

New York City is a very tough place. I'm tough, too. When people give me a punch in the nose, I react by getting even tougher.

I think basketball harnessed and built my toughness and competitiveness. I grew up in a tough neighborhood, and you were either going to cry and moan about it or get tough.

I've lived most of my life in Manhattan, but I lived in Brooklyn for a while as a kid. I went to junior high school there. Girls in Brooklyn have to be tough - I mean real tough - just to get by. It's life in the combat zone.

I'm from the hood. You put me in a rough neighborhood and believe me, I'm OK.

It's New York - it comes with it. If you can't deal with it, you leave. If you lose, they talk about you. When you win, they love you.

I feel like New York built me - it made my mindset really strong. I give props to New York for making that happen.

I think there's a difference between somebody who grows up in Paris or London and goes to Los Angeles. But if you grow up in the green fields, and you rarely go into the city, you're so overprotected that when you do go to L.A., it's almost a bigger slap in the head.

On my estate, there are older guys and there are dangerous things happening. But I had my ball with me and that made me feel safe. That's where I developed my strength, mentality and ruthlessness.

Junkies might be easy to knock down, but they're never fragile. They have souls like old leather shoes studded with steel, and they're about as much good as friends.

Being a New Yorker is never having to say you are sorry.