Louis Zamperini Quotes

I want to show that the underdog can win. I believe we're all the same: you, a slum girl, my mother.

When I go speak to these kids through my foundation and am able to sit down and tell them some of the things that I've been through, they can look up and relate to me, and they can understand the feelings I had that are similar to what they're going through and feeling.

Why should anybody be interested in some old man who was a failure?

After I lost my legs, I got invited to my old high school, and I shared my stories with all the classes. I remember I was so nervous and didn't know where to start, but I knew I had information they could take away.

My favorite movie is 'Coach Carter' so I would definitely tell anyone who hasn't seen that to check that out.

My dad was a real fun guy, and despite his personal problems, he was a great father. It wasn't easy, but he did a good job of raising my sister Mary and I all by himself.

The one cheering aspect of 'Daughters of Britannia' is the extraordinary tenacity and resilience of Hickman's women.

You can get knocked down, and it hurts and it leaves scars. But if you're a leader, the people you've counted on will help you up. And if you're a leader, the people who count on you need you on your feet.

I do believe in the old saying, 'What does not kill you makes you stronger.' Our experiences, good and bad, make us who we are. By overcoming difficulties, we gain strength and maturity.

In 'The Hate U Give,' I play Big Mav', who was incarcerated for a number of years and is raising three children. He was a gang member but reformed himself, and he's trying to empower his children, help them understand the best way to keep out of trouble.

Susan Burton's life story - filled with trauma, struggle, and true heroism - is precisely the kind of story that has the potential to change the way we view our world.

My father was a very fun dad. He was always coaching our soccer sports teams; he made sure that we had activities to do. He was kind of goofy and fun. But at the same time, he had a lot of lessons to teach us so that we didn't grow up and just not be good people.

I didn't deserve to get my title stripped after three ACL reconstructions. I didn't deserve to be out for four years. But it happened to me, and so I definitely learned over the years that you don't deserve anything. Nothing you have is yours. Everything is up for grabs in this world.

My mother means the world to me. She is my inspiration and motivating force. She has brought me up perfectly and given me the value and ethics that I still proudly believe in and follow.

My deep emotional connection to my mother, a remarkable woman who made a hard choice to save her children, and who valiantly struggled to care for us as a single parent, is the current that has driven my entire life. Everything I've accomplished is a testament to her fortitude.

My only success is that I am alive.

The women that inspire me to be honest are the women that struggle.

My favorite filmmaker is Frank Capra. He talked about the redemption of the human spirit - not the superhero, but the common man.

Who would've thought that this little girl in the ghetto in Philly would be playing the first black lesbian superhero on network TV?

I intend to inspire people with my story: motivate young people that grew up like myself, or even not like myself. Just, you know, go through the human experience.

It was rough growing up but it was best for me, it's what made Shannon Briggs, it's who I am.

My mom has always been beside me, always telling me what's right and what's not, guiding me through it all, keeping me away from bad company and from bad habits.

Especially the young kids who don't have any guidance, just stuck on trying to be a tough guy or trying to be a gangster - there are different ways out there to better yourself. You just need the right guy out there to push you.

God puts you through things - steps in life - and you get over them.

I always said that if I had the platform and the opportunity to share my story and make it easier for others, I would - so that, in a way, I can be the role model that I was looking for as a kid.