Wendell Pierce Quotes

A lot of people deal with things that are bad. Once you've been through something, you grow from it and you take a lot in. You can always turn it into something positive.

I was bullied and picked on because I was so different to everyone else, and I definitely didn't believe or even know I was fabulous back then. But those hard times made me everything I am today. It's all water under the bridge now, but being bullied and going through adversity definitely made me stronger.

We grew up in a very strange world, because my mother was up against it all when she had three black children.

I grew up in the Midwest, and I was a short, fat, little Jewish kid... but it was just different. People didn't understand, so I had to deal with it. One day, I physically dealt with it, and it never happened again. I'm not saying that's the way to do it, but you have to stand up for yourself, period, end of story.

I had a lot of racism growing up where I grew up. Bullied at school. It definitely encouraged me. It's like battle wounds - you come out the other side, and it just makes you tougher.

Racism is not new. It was not invented just for you. So get bigger than that stuff.

I knew racial discrimination at its worst in the 1930s. I lived with the humility of it but I never lost my sense of humor. Humor is the escape valve from the deadly reality of adversity.

I faced a certain amount of violence. It taught me that I had to learn to protect myself - and it made me stronger. It could have made me step backwards with my self-discovery. Instead, it pushed me further.

What doesn't kill you, if you use it to make yourself stronger, then you will get stronger. But if you let it beat you down, then you will be weaker.

If they hadn’t tried to break me down, I wouldn’t know that I’m unbreakable.

Beautiful revelations of power are often written by the guy who got kicked around and didn’t have any power.

Instead of being ashamed of what you've been through, be proud of what you have overcome!

I think scars are like battle wounds - beautiful, in a way. They show what you've been through and how strong you are for coming out of it.

Racism built me into a person that was set up to be self-destructive.

I want people to understand that tragedy and trial does not necessarily mean that you are a victim.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I really believe that.

You not supposed to feel down over whatever happen to you. I mean, you're supposed to use whatever happen to you as some type of upper, not a downer.

I've gone through many, many things. I tell you something, that if it doesn't kill you, you get stronger.

I speak to people who have been through so much more.

Everybody's scared for their ass. There aren't too many people ready to die for racism. They'll kill for racism but they won't die for racism.

I never thought I was going to leave the trap. I even told my mother, 'I'm gonna be the trap God.'

We acquire the strength we have overcome.

Recovery begins from the darkest moment.

I've been picked on my whole entire life, and I feel like I started the IAmMoreThan campaign on Instagram to try to find other people who have been bullied and totally overcame it and did something amazing with it.

I'm a survivor - a living example of what people can go through and survive.