Shaquem Griffin Quotes

When I was a kid, people kept saying, 'You can't do this, you can't do that,' and I wanted to prove them wrong.

My entire life, people have told me that I couldn't do certain things. They told me I couldn't go to college. They told me I couldn't go to Yale, Georgetown, couldn't end up doing much on Capitol Hill. Couldn't be party chair. And my response has always been, 'Watch me.'

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.'

Don't be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.

I've always strived to prove people wrong.

I like being the underdog. I like turning around and shutting people up when they tell me I can't.

If people keep telling you you can't do a thing, then you need to find a really good reason to continue. If someone tells you you can't do something, how will you know? If someone tells you something is impossible, how will you know?

I think it's important to inspire other people to try and do things that people discourage you to do.

I've had a very unusual background in science - not the usual route of planning on being a scientist from age 3. I think my story shows that success is more about personal motivation and determination than it is about where you were born or what your economic status was.

I tell people to look at me and understand that everybody first told me that I couldn't be a 6-foot, 9-inch point guard, and I proved them wrong. Then they told me I couldn't be a businessman and make money in urban America, and I proved them wrong. And they thought I couldn't win all these championships, and I proved them wrong there as well.

My mother told me not to listen to anyone. She had been told that she wouldn't be able to teach and she did.

I've always been pretty tough in that way, where if you tell me I can't do something, I will prove you wrong.

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.

If I were to listen to people all the time when they say, 'Hey, this is a really high challenge, this is a high climb, the bar is pretty steep,' then I wouldn't have gone to the academy. I wouldn't have become an aircraft carrier pilot. I wouldn't have become a Navy SEAL for sure. And I probably wouldn't have applied to Harvard.

I haven't accepted anyone telling me what is or isn't possible and have just kept moving along toward my goals.

There's always going to be someone out there who doesn't like what you do, doesn't like your style, your face. That's part of life. But I feed off that. I don't think I'd be where I am today if it wasn't for that. It puts a little fire in the belly, keeps me going so I can prove so many people wrong.

Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again.

When I first started playing guitar, so many people told me I couldn't do this or couldn't do that. But I kept at it and ignored that.

Something I've learned is that when people tell me I can't do something, I immediately wonder why and then think it through. It only makes me more motivated to prove them wrong.

I was told 'you can't play for England, you're at Bolton.' I proved them wrong.

Every single year, there's gonna be something else that people say I can't do or that you can't do in general. And it's your job to prove them wrong.

I'm going to keep proving people wrong because I have a lot of people to prove wrong, a lot of doubters.

I never listened to people who said I wasn't going to make it.

That's something that drives me on - wanting to prove people wrong. Because the amount of people who have told me, 'no, you're not good enough.' A lot of people fall at that hurdle. But I just kept getting up and looking for that one person who said yes.

If somebody says you can't do something, find five ways to do it.