James Hong Quotes

I didn't try to copy my dad or fit into the pressure or the mold that everybody tried to make me fit into.

My dad sacrificed many things in life for me. He abandoned a very promising and lucrative career of an army officer just so that he could continue helping me with my chess and accompanying me to tournaments.

Even when I was doing well in acting, my dad would say, 'You can still go back to dental school.' But since I've been on '90210,' I haven't heard that.

I thought I could never be the actor Dad was, so I avoided it for a while.

I never believed in pushing my kids. My dad was very unhappy I wasn't going to be a doctor, but I couldn't stand to see the sight of blood. And I wanted to be a lawyer since I was in seventh or eighth grade.

My dad, coming from a very traditional family, always wanted me to be a doctor. So he would always ask me, 'What are you going to be when you grow up?' And I'd have to say 'Dr. Chen.'

My father believed a real man didn't read, and my parents hoped I'd get some sense and find a job in insurance.

My dad was not happy about my not becoming an architect like him.

My mother cried when I told her I really didn't want to go to West Point. So I went.

My mother wanted my sister and me to live a normal life. I always picked friends who weren't impressed with my family ties.

Almost all people descend to meet. All association must be a compromise, and, what is worst, the very flower and aroma of the flower of each of the beautiful natures disappears as they approach each other.

My parents had the plan for my life from the moment my mother tested positive with me. Looking back now, I'd say the hard turn for me was when I left school after the eighth grade to play tennis full time and study some with a travelling tutor.

My family is a conservative one. They don't want me to join films and I also go by their wishes.

I never wanted to lose who I am, my character or my integrity for the sake of Hollywood.

Don't let yourself be small because you want to fit in.

I've had a record deal before and I was willing to do whatever they wanted me to do and I thought that would be it. By the end of it, you know, I hated myself.

This industry will shape you and mold you, and if you're willing to compromise yourself and let yourself change too much, then you're not really gonna know you are anymore.

When I was working for WWE I felt like I was trying to make someone else's vision happen instead of my own. And I think that's where I became less true to myself and I think it showed in my work.

The older I get, the more the lying, the losing touch with your true thoughts and feelings, and the compromises required to fit in seem not worth the effort. It's my one go on Earth; why spend any more of it conforming to other people's rules and ideals?

I trained in medicine in India, and after that, I chose psychiatry as my specialty, much to the dismay of my mother and all my family members who kind of thought neurosurgery would be a more respectable option for their brilliant son.

Growing up, I always said I would never go in to education. Both of my parents were teachers - my dad was also a principal and a superintendent. I just didn't want to be part of the school system.

I grew up in Georgia, and my mom would tell me how to perform and act. So I learned to repress a lot of myself so that other people would feel comfortable.

I just want to put on a uniform - whoever it is.

I think, initially, my rebellion, my rebellion of going to college when my dad would have liked me to stay home and work in the herbs, I think that it was a pretty mild rebellion in the sense that I thought, 'Well, I'm going to go learn how to be a music teacher so that I can come home and do choir.'

I think there's always been a little performer in me. But having a family that are Jamaican immigrants, having this idea that, 'Oh, that's what you're going to do for a living?' seems kind of out of reach and not a reality. It's like, 'get a real job.'