Dikembe Mutombo Quotes

I suppose you've got to look like you're made of steel for nudity. You've got to get some arms on you.

I was very vulnerable to criticism for many years. I could read a bad review and remember it my whole life.

I think things hit me very hard, and I wish I had allowed things to roll off my back a little bit more.

On the surface I look fragile and insecure; you have to know me very well.

I had my shortcomings - crazy hair, braces, bad skin and all that stuff. I went through it all.

I was not very strong growing up, and my uncle used to look at me, like, 'This kid is not growing up, he is growing tall but he can be broken like a banana.' The banana in Congo is called 'Dikembe.' So my uncle start calling me, 'Dikembe, Dikembe, look at you Dikembe, you cannot even stand up.' It took a long time for me to walk.

I really fell into drama school - I had a lot of lot of luck. I didn't take criticism very well while I was there; in fact, I took it personally. With every note I got, I felt like they were telling me I was a bad person.

In the beginning, I was riddled with major complexes about my looks. Even now, here and there, these complexes crop up. But as the days progressed, I learnt to handle them much better.

I wish I had tougher skin, but I don't.

I'm not afraid of how I look in the mirror.

I've spent a lot of time being insecure about my body, but it's done so much for me. It's my tool, my vessel for my job.

I think losing out on jobs and, you know, being judged on your appearance... I definitely grew a second skin and got used to it, but more so now, I've realised it definitely contributed to a lot of things I feel about myself.

It's taken me a long, long time to figure out how to deal with negativity, because it used to really upset me. I was always that girl that, if I was performing in the club and there was one person not paying attention or not liking me, the whole club could be packed with people loving me, but I'd be obsessed with that one person.

Am I ever gonna grow thick skin? No.

I think everybody goes through times where they're vulnerable and then times where you're confident and cocky.

I'm still conscious of whether people really accept me, but that insecurity makes me stronger.

When I was younger, I didn't even know how to walk. I was so self-conscious.

I think growing up, you just deal with 'I'm ugly,' or 'I don't look right,' or 'my hair is wrong,' and it's such a distraction from what can really elevate you.

It's not a bad thing, is it, to be strong in some ways and fragile and vulnerable in others?

Many have never felt strong, but everyone knows what it is to feel weak.

In my weightlifting I am trying to show that if you pray and meditate, you can bring to the fore your inner strength. Now, if somebody is really inwardly strong, he is always at peace.

I wish I were strong enough to ignore what others say, but experience tells me I often can't. Allowing myself to feel upset, even really upset, and then move on - that's something I can do.

But in my heart I knew that just like the new grass, I wasn't strong enough yet to be walked on

Growing up as a little kid, I wasn't always this size. I got picked on a lot.

All it takes is for one person to say you’re ugly, and you’re like, I guess I’m ugly. And that was it.