Alexandra Bracken Quotes

New York is a place that can grind you down and spit you out. A true New Yorker doesn't get ground down - he gets polished.

I always give respect to and pay homage to New York, because I don't feel like I would be the player that I am today if it wasn't for New York City. It gives you a certain edge, a certain toughness just growing up in the city.

Mumbai can eat you up or teach you how to survive because it is a tricky city. I guess living in cities like Mumbai or Delhi makes you slightly more street-smart and alert.

I grew up in the Bronx. The Bronx teaches you to survive. It's like, 'Bring it on!'

You learn to cope with whatever you have to cope with. I spent my childhood in New York, riding on subways and buses. And you know what you learn if you're a New Yorker? The world doesn't owe you a damn thing.

I'm grateful I've got my mind. I can take care of my own business.

I really believe that you grow up a certain way in New York. There's a New York morality, a sense of loyalty. You know how to win and lose. There's a thousand kids outside, you know who to push and who not to push. There's a sixth sense you develop just because it's New York.

Kenya, being a third world country, from a young age your eyes are open to the real world. I'd like to think growing up there taught me to stand on my own two feet, make my own decisions about what I wanted to be.

What's so fascinating about New Yorkers is that each person has a whole lexicon of personal logic in the way that they decipher and do what has to be done to enjoy, stay alive, take pleasure in this place.

Scouting teaches a boy to take care of himself and stand on his own two feet.

New Yorkers are real gritty and tough.

You have to be self-reliant and strong to survive in this town. Otherwise you will be destroyed.

The song 'Wolf Eyes,' I wrote because I felt like I was such a kitten. I want to be more of a wolf. I want to be stronger and more independent. I sort of wrote the song for that.

At heart, I'm a dude from South Central Los Angeles. We roll the way we roll because we had survival tactics; we had to learn how to adapt. That's just me.

When you literally build a state of granite, it takes a certain toughness and perseverance as well as a unique blend of community and independence: a culture that also helps spur economic growth.

In New York, ingenuity goes hand-in-hand with the hustle to survive.

I take pleasure in discovering resourcefulness inside me.

Me, you could stick me in solitary confinement for 100 years and I'd be fine.

My toughness comes from just being from Philly, man.

If he must be alone, he would make solitude his armor.

I thank God I am endued with such qualities that if I were turned out of the Realm in my petticoat I were able to live in any place in Christendom.

You can get what you want. Never sell out. Don't break. Don't weaken. Don't let the kindness of strangers be your salvation, for it is no salvation at all. Unless you sleep alone, you sleep with the enemy. Never come out of the storm. On the other hand, maybe you should. You don't have what it takes to go the hard way. Come out of the cold and sit by the fire. Let them warm you with the smiles and promise of friendship's fortune. Lose your edge. A soft body and chained mind suit you. Chances are you don't have what it takes to walk the frozen trail. Stay home and relax.

Being alone makes us stronger. That’s the honest truth. But it’s cold comfort, since even if I wanted company no one will come near me anymore.

Living in Brooklyn it's a very fend-for-yourself place. Maybe it's made me a little bit harsh but I don't consider that to be pejorative.

If one hasn't a horse, one is one's own horse.