Ada Yonath Quotes

I love it when people doubt me. It makes me work harder to prove them wrong.

I am able to get up and dust myself off and keep moving forward. I'm very stubborn.

Even when I was struggling and had horrible day jobs and wanted to be successful but wasn't finding my way in, I knew what I had to do. I knew I had to keep working at it and keep putting material out there, even if no one was paying me for it.

Don't take it personally if you're met with opposition. Work hard anyway.

And remember how he wrote the first Rocky in a few days, and wouldn't sell the script even though he was starving, because they wanted to put somebody else in the lead role. To see what he's accomplished, dog, that's what it's all about.

Work hard for what you want because it won't come to you without a fight. You have to be strong and courageous and know that you can do anything you put your mind to. If somebody puts you down or criticizes you, just keep on believing in yourself and turn it into something positive.

I tell young comics, 'Do you want this badly enough? It's there. But you have to go get it. And if you think I'm going to give you the key to the lock of that door, there is no key, there is no lock, and there is no door.'

Everyone has egos, and you want to come out on top. You have to pick yourself up and go at it again.

Ninety percent of the time, you're going to hear no. It took me seven years to make 'Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored.' Nobody wanted to see the movie made. I got the movie made.

I knew I could sing. That one thing I did believe in was that I could sing, but then constantly getting rejected, it started to get me down. But my voice was always there and my dream and my ambition was always there when I went through bad times.

I had to develop the mentality and stay positive about making my comeback.

'Give up... it's time to quit,' I don't think I've ever really accepted those kinds of words in my life or vocabulary.

I always follow my heart and my guts. If I want to do something, I have immense belief in hard work and myself. I have it in me to do well anywhere and in anything I do. I have a deep desire to excel in everything I do.

As an athlete, you sort of just win every day. Because you're going to sometimes lose every day. And so you just keep picking yourself up and going forward.

Never lose the childlike wonder. Show gratitude... Don't complain; just work harder... Never give up.

All of us, in a sense, struggle continuously all the time, because we never get what we want. The important thing which I've really learned is how do you not give up, because you never succeed in the first attempt.

Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.

A staple of my personality is that I want what I want - and I'm willing to do without until I get it.

I think I'm one of life's copers. And picking myself up and dusting myself off and starting all over again is one of my mottoes, actually.

My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.

I do think that there is a profound reservoir of creativity and imagination in everyone I've ever met, and sometimes if someone is persistent and perversely obstinate enough to persevere, then they want to be helped. There is a way to help them.

Depending on what happens with my directing career, I don't think I'll stop writing, even if I crash and burn in movies and TV. I'll go back to plays. Even if I crash and burn there, I'll write a novel. That's the great thing about writing is that you don't have to wait for people to give you permission to do it.

Being essentially a creator, I never set out to shock, always thinking about creating my work and not about the benefits it could produce.

I really believe that if you want something bad enough, and you work so hard to get it, and you have it inside, then if you just never stop, it's gonna happen.

The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average man is. I don't believe in 'super-men,' for the world is full of capable men, but it's the fellow with determination that wins out.