William O'Neill Quotes

I worked hard to get where I am. And I started with nothing.

I am extremely proud of my rags-to-riches story. It's fun to be a misfit or an underdog if you acknowledge your gifts and befriend your obstacles.

Abraham Lincoln comes from nothing, has no education, no money, lives in the middle of nowhere on the frontier. And despite the fact that he suffers one tragedy and one setback after another, through sheer force of will, he becomes something extraordinary: not only the president but the person who almost single-handedly united the country.

As his partner on this amazing journey, I can tell you Mitt Romney was not handed success. He built it.

I've had all six of my books reach the New York Times bestseller list, which is especially rewarding seeing as I flunked out of high school twice because I couldn't write. It just goes to show you that we learn from our mistakes.

It's really cool to come from nothing and essentially be a nobody and make yourself somebody.

My father worked with a first-grade education in this country and managed every single day without a hiccup.

Young people can learn from my example that something can come from nothing. What I have become is the result of my hard efforts.

I come from a very rough background, and I'm saying that if you work hard and dedicate yourself that you can make it, too.

There are two ways to go when you hit that crossroads in your life: There is the bad way, when you sort of give up, and then there is the really hard way, when you fight back. I went the hard way and came out of it okay. Now, I'm sitting here and doing great.

I been through some things but I worked hard to get to where I'm at.

I came from nothing and achieved humungous fame and fortune. But I worked hard. I had discipline and determination. I had that ice in me.

Success is sweet and sweeter if long delayed and gotten through many struggles and defeats.

I want to be an example of a guy who made something of himself out of nothing. A guy who overcame the odds of a tough childhood, who worked hard, who didn't let his surroundings get the best of him and lead him to jail or the graveyard. Where I ended up - being a comedian, a TV star, and a movie actor - might be unique, but my story is not.

I think it's a great thing to have failed in life and then pulled yourself up by the boot straps and actually done something, because then you appreciate it more.

There wasn't a rich father or rich family that paid for everything that I have right now, so I worked my way.

I take my hat off to my friend, Mark Wahlberg, because I know that it took him a long time to make 'The Fighter', and he overcame a lot of obstacles to do it, and now the film is an unqualified success.

I've worked hard over the years, I've been injured and I've worked hard through it, and I've made it.

My family and I had to overcome a lot to get where we are today.

Being selected Most Improved was a special individual award because when I speak to young people I always try to tell them the importance about it's not where you start but where you end up.

I'm not an overnight sensation. I'm a Texan. And I'm a Texas success story. I am the epitome of hard work and optimism.

That is not enough. Sport has been great for me, a great learning place that if you want to achieve you can, even if you are from the poorest part of Africa.

I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth; I came from really humble beginnings - the projects of New York City - and I worked my way to get to where I am.

I struggled to get through high school. I didn't get to go to college. But it made me realize you can do anything if you want to bad enough.

America is built around this premise that you can do it, and there are an awful lot of people who are unlikely to have done it who did.