Katherine Dunham Quotes

Don't let nobody tell you that you can't do it. Love what you do until you don't love it anymore. Nothing's impossible.

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.

When I was young, a lot of things were closed off to me. I was always told, 'Don't do this, you can't do that' - instead of stopping me, it made me think, 'I can do that, I must do that.'

One thing I've come to learn about myself is that I have to keep going.

Don't give up. There are too many nay-sayers out there who will try to discourage you. Don't listen to them. The only one who can make you give up is yourself.

Passion is what gets you through the hardest times that might otherwise make strong men weak, or make you give up.

We've all been there, where it seems like all the cards are stacked against you, and you can't seem to do anything right. But you still have to say to yourself, 'You know what? That's not going to stop me. I still have to find a way.'

I've been overlooked and slighted every step of the way. I think that brings out the best in me.

I just love it when people say I can't do something. There's nothing that makes me feel better, because all my life people have said I wasn't going to make it.

Do not let your fire go out.

Don’t let haters get me off my grind. Keep my head up, I know I’ll be fine. Keep fighting until I get there. When I’m down and I feel like giving up I whip my hair back and forth.

Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.

We can do whatever we wish to do provided our wish is strong enough. But the tremendous effort needed- one doesn't always want to make it-does one? ... But what else can be done? What's the alternative? What do you want most to do? That's what I have to keep asking myself, in the face of difficulties.

It is when things go hardest, when life becomes most trying, that there is greatest need for having a fixed goal.

Your persistence is, in fact, the true measure of your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed. Each time that you persist in the face of adversity and disappointment, you build the habit of persistence.

Our energy is in proportion to the resistance it meets. We attempt nothing great but from a sense of the difficulties we have to encounter, we persevere in nothing great but from a pride in overcoming them.

It takes a lot of spine and stomach to make yourself into something when no one gives you a foundation.

Over the past six years I've had many difficulties. But I never lost my passion.

I'm not saying it's going to be easy. Nothing in life is easy. But that's no reason to give up. You'll be surprised what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it.After all, you only have one life, so you should try to make the most of it.

I think there are always going to be things that you're going to want to do. It's about picking yourself back up and starting again.

A lot of times I had some problems, but I always had the passion and the personal motivation to keep going, to keep working hard, keep fighting for the things that really motivates me. That's all.

View the events you consider obstacles as perfect opportunities to test your resolve and find your purpose.

Nobody's going to do your life for you. You have to do it yourself, whether you're rich or poor, out of money or raking it in, the beneficiary of ridiculous fortune or terrible injustice. And you have to do it no matter what is true. No matter what is hard. No matter what unjust, sad, sucky things befall you. Self-pity is a dead-end road. You make the choice to drive down it. It's up to you to decide to stay parked there or to turn around and drive out.

I train myself for triumph by knowing it is mine no matter what.

This hill though high I covent ascend; The difficulty will not me offend; For I perceive the way of life lies here. Come, pluck up, heart; let's neither faint nor fear.