Andrej Pejic Quotes

Whenever I'm on my way to a premiere or something, I always have a good laugh in the car... because it's all so absurd - I'm one generation removed from starvation.

Living in Flint, poverty is an obstacle that you have to fight through. I always had to fend for my brother and sister - I was always the one to sacrifice my meals so that they could eat.

Growing up, my parents made a lot of sacrifices for my brother and I to go to private school and to attend some of the football camps. They got through some hard times, but it was for me, and that's what I've learned from them. I'm very grateful for that.

The rich know not how hard it is to be of needful rest and needful food debarred.

Although we didn't have much when I was growing up in Split, Croatia, my parents always tried to ensure that my sister and I had the things we needed, and it was enough for us.

Every day I've got to hear about unemployment and people starving.

Even though I am fortunate to have certain luxuries, sometimes, I am even amazed by what people with money have and do. I want to remind people that just because you might be rich and famous, it doesn't mean you have to take yourself too seriously.

I know what it's like to be famous. It's good money and it's great fun. A real kick in the pants. People wave at you and smile at you. You get great tables in restaurants. They send you gifts - beautiful clothes and cars.

I lived through the garbage. I might as well dine on the caviar.

I know what it's like not to have food in the fridge or money to buy more.

I really have paid my dues. When I get to stay in fancy hotel suites these days, I remind myself of that.

My father died when I was nine and a half. We were on relief for two years. They call it welfare now, but it was relief then... I never forgot the generosity of New York.

When I was a child, I was living in the housing projects of Philadelphia. I didn't even have a Christmas tree.

When you have things taken away, you promise you'll never take anything for granted ever again.

There are moments when you're stepping out of a really nice car on to a red carpet, and you feel inside like, 'This is quite nice,' but I'm never whisked off my feet.

My dad died in 1980, and I found out afterwards from mum that my piano lessons, which cost £2 a week, took up nearly a third of his income.

My parents did everything possible. My dad has worked from eight in the morning until nine in the evening to make it possible so I can play tennis. We had to cancel tournaments because we couldn't afford to go there.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a home where I woke up Christmas morning and had toys. I know that's not the case with all people and I don't think kids should go without experiencing that sort of joy.

The man who has bread to eat does not appreciate the severity of a famine.

I was born in 1928, so in 1943, 1944, we had the war in Rome. There were a lot of hardships, a lack of food, many shortages. So when I worked with the Americans, the English, and the Canadians soon after the war, when I played with them, they paid me with food. That will give you an idea how widespread poverty was at that time.

Does anyone want to see a person who's making the money that the newspapers say I'm making complaining, 'Woe is me, my life is terrible, and people are being unfair?' No one would've had any patience for that. I wouldn't have any patience for that.

It has been tough when I have been with the national team and we have gone to play in some of the poorer areas in Brazil. You see people come and watch us train or play a match, and then you know some of them are going home with no food on the plate.

When you're an actor, you're mollycoddled, and you're treated with kid gloves. Everyone is like, 'Can I get you some water?' or 'Can I put on your slippers?'

My mother was a cleaner and my father a builder. I watched both of them make big sacrifices for my brother and I to study. This is where I get my work ethic from. This is also the source of my generosity and willingness to help.

My family has sacrificed a lot.