Per Mertesacker Quotes

By the mid-70s, I wanted to get out of the business. I was tired anyway.

That is sort of the eternal question for people who go to Hollywood...what will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, and forces you to think about doing something else? When do you throw in the towel?

I've been doing this since I was 12... I don't want to act much longer; I can't do one thing my whole life.

Oh, my career. What career? I'm over 40.

I was a litigation lawyer, following the crowd off the proverbial cliff, when I pressed the pause button.

There might come a point where I don't want to be in this industry at all.

I came out of retirement to run a start-up. Historically, I seldom used all of my vacation time, and the last sick day I took was in 1992. I am a sick puppy.

I honestly don't want to act anymore.

I'll know when to retire when I don't want to push myself anymore.

I guess it was the first time I really thought about leaving. I don't just mean Iron Maiden, I mean quitting music altogether. I just thought, 'Nothing is worth feeling like this for.' I began to feel like I was a piece of machinery, like I was part of the lighting rig.

I knew my successor would be better than me for the next stage of the company's life. And it was a relief - I'd been doing it for 30 years. My only worry was what the hell I was going to do with my time.

Many of the young aspire to happy marriages and dot-com fortunes but end up in guarded love and okay-for-now jobs.

I soon realized that the best thing I could do for the profession of human services was to get out of it.

Most people perceive their occupation as being a detriment to their overall wellbeing.

I just decided to take some time off. I've been modeling since '93, '92, and that's a pretty long time. I'm a single mother and I chose to focus on her.

After my health suffered due to the stress of running my second company, I had to switch careers. But I still didn't want to go back to the corporate world. So I became an academic.

I loved every minute of my time at Microsoft, but I had always envisioned having another phase of life just because I thought that would be interesting. It had never been my plan to work until I literally didn't want to do anything and then hang it up.

To kill yourself for earning a salary is not worth it.

I left WWE because I was utterly miserable wrestling at the time and I needed to get away from the business.

I was a professional and did my best to prepare for every fight, but after PRIDE Grand Prix, to be honest, I didn't have motivation to go on.

I am a very positive person, but you don't get taught how to deal with the end of your career. Never.

I started becoming an agent and producing before I retired. I was doing double-duty to get my feet wet.

When you play a lot of games in a row, and you come off the pitch thinking, 'I can't do this no more,' then it is time to look at something else, whether you have six months left on your contract or four years.

I think one of the things that happened to me in the last couple of years in the WWE where I realized how unhappy I was in that environment, was that I realized that I needed variety and balance in my life.

We used to say when we were 20 years old, that when you reach 30, you gotta hang up your guitar and get a real job.