W. Kamau Bell Quotes

Are you going to back down to somebody? If not, you're giving yourself a chance.

You can't let yourself be pushed around. You can't live in fear. I mean, some people do live in fear. You can't live in fear. That's no way to live your life.

Photographers and people do try to take advantage of you. You just have to stand your ground and prove you're not an easy target.

Rule number one in negotiating anything with Missy is never try and run me over. Never push me, because I am a very strong woman. I'm nice, but I'm very strong. When it gets down gritty, I can get grittier. Never, ever underestimate me.

You're going to have to speak up for yourself - and I learned that after always being, for lack of a better word, crapped on.

You have to always push back, whatever the pressures put on you.

You can't let yourself be pushed around. You can't live in fear. That's no way to live your life.

I'm a showgirl. After 20 years in show business, I've learned to roll with the punches.

When I first started on television, people, and even my own manager at the time, would tell me I had to make all of these changes. But you have to stand up and say, 'There's nothing wrong with me or my shape or who I am; you're the one with the problem!' And when you can really believe that, all of a sudden other people start believing, too.

Most of the people I know in show business don't need anybody pushing them at all. They're extremely aggressive.

I think it's so wrong to play the victim. There's too many brave women out there that just won't even tolerate it, you know?

I'm damn successful but I got here by not taking crap. I still don't take crap, so if anybody needs a champion, let it be me.

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.

I had to learn not to let anyone push me around, to be brave and to say things I knew might make people mad.

I'm not just a doormat. I'm not just being stepped on all over the place. If you look at the bulk of my material, it's about trying to find some strength through that.

I'm going to stand up for what I need to do, not what everybody else wants me to do.

Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn't have the power to say yes.

I realized that if I don't like something, I can change it. If I don't feel comfortable with something, then I have a voice to say it's not cool.

I'm not terribly confrontational, but I've gotten better at holding my ground.

I learned early on - I can go to a shoot, and they will put anything they want to put on me, and I'll look like an idiot because I didn't say I don't like it. It's OK to have an opinion.

When somebody tells you they don't think you're good enough here, your face doesn't fit, you don't just roll over; you've got to back yourself.

My whole life has been about fighting for what I want, what I believe in.

Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself.

I'm not one to fall back into the corner and put my fate in someone else's hands. I tend to believe anyone in my position would do the same thing.

A large part of my career achievements are due to having the courage to ask for what I needed, whether in a professional or personal context.