Clarence Thomas Quotes

There's a difference between someone who's 'harsh' and someone who is 'hard.' Life was hard. You lived in the South, as my grandparents did, and you had to survive. That is hard.

How can they beat me? I've been struck by lightning, had two back operations, and been divorced twice.

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

There's going to be good things that get you, and there's going to be bad things that get you, so you better be willing, and your skin better be thick.

As much as I disliked it, my brothers used to whoop me every day, but I have a feeling that I'm probably a stronger man today because of it.

When you grow up hard, when you grow up surviving, unfortunately, it helps.

You had to be tough to survive in my neighborhood.

Life…never gave me a chance to be soft.

Life is not for the faint of heart.

I've been screwed and sued and tattooed, and I'm still standin' here in front of you.

That which does not destroy, strengthens.

That that don't kill me, can only make me stronger.

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!

That which does not kill me can only make me stronger.

I have a different kind of experience than other girls had. I've had to face a lot of different styles and adjust to them. I had to face a lot of bad situations and come back. I've had to fight with my eyes swollen shut and my nose broken and bloody.

I think I got a lot of life skills; I got a lot of wisdom; I've seen a lot of bad things happen to a lot of good people.

Life asks not merely what you can do; it asks how much can you endure and not be spoiled.

I don't consider myself a survivor; that's someone who has gone through something terrible.

I knew that I had it tough compared to children around me. But I felt like I needed it. I think I had the wisdom as a child to know that it would help me later on.

No pressure, no diamonds.

If you're actually talking to someone who's been through a disastrous number of years, that only means one thing: They survived it.

Tough times don't last, but tough people do. And I've been through some tough times, and I know a lot of people can recall tough times, and maybe are going through some tough times right now, but they don't last.

I'm a survivor - a living example of what people can go through and survive.

People that are brilliant and successful, we think they've just always been that way. That's not the case. Most of them have had some tough adversity in their life. It's prepared them. I've never felt like you could develop character without adversity.

He knows not his own strength that has not met adversity.