Joel Siegel Quotes

I don't let myself get upset about the little nitpicky things anymore.

Having cancer does make you try to be better at everything you do and enjoy every moment. It changes you forever. But it can be a positive change.

I've kind of got an out in cancer. It keeps things in perspective for me.

Everyone should have cancer one time - then you'd know that other things aren't important. The guy that gives you the finger at the stoplight don't mean nothing anymore. You come home and something's cold, or you didn't get something in the mail. Big deal. You want to get up every day and see your family and your friends.

I'm not the kind of person to sit and dwell for ages on something that happened. I go through something, I experience it, I try to learn from it, and I move forward.

I'm one of those people that will say, 'My cancer was a gift.'

Life gets more interesting as it goes on. It becomes fuller because there is perspective there.

Petty things don't bother me as much as they used to.

Some people's developmental path has not equipped them to stand up and let go of something.

I just took everything so seriously in my early twenties. But now I'm like, 'life can be fun.' You don't have to overthink everything. I've found a way to be more at peace with things. I'm looking forward to turning 30.

I've learned to accept death better than most people.

The older you get the more you realize that life is more than just basketball. Your vision of the world gets much wider, and you're not the centre of it no more. You understand that you're a moving part and that you have other responsibilities.

There's a certain thing when you start getting into your late thirties or early forties where you stop caring. Not to the extent where you stop caring about the music, you just stop caring about what anyone thinks of you, and you just kind of let it go - let the chips fall where they may.

Having a brain type aneurism, a brain bleed, really put things in perspective of what a good life and being a good person is really about.

In my mind, there's more to life than just fighting. That's just how I am.

During chemo, you're more tired than you've ever been. It's like a cloud passing over the sun, and suddenly you're out. But you also find that you're stronger than you've ever been. You're clear. Your mortality is at optimal distance, not up so close that it obscures everything else, but close enough to give you depth perception. Previously, it has taken you weeks, months, or years to discover the meaning of an experience. Now it's instantaneous.

I spoke to a girl today who had cancer and we were talking about how this is such a hard thing for her, but it taught her a big lesson on who her friends are and so much about life. She's 18. And I was like, that's how I feel.

Let's not allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. Remember "Life is too short to be little".

When I was younger I'd berate myself: You're fat, you're not a good dancer, you'll never have a boyfriend. I don't sweat that kind of stuff anymore. Now every day is a miracle. I've also learned that if something is painful or upsetting, you shouldn't hide from it. You should make it part of your life instead.

Keep in mind that people change, but the past doesn't.

It takes a lot of grace and maturity to simply forgive, but a lot of healing takes place when you do.

In 24 years in the movie business, you have a lot of doors slammed in your face, and a lot of people say mean things. Every time, I'm constantly surprised at how the span of time gets quicker that I get okay with it, and I'm over it. That's been an interesting thing to learn.

To be strong does not mean to sprout muscles and flex. It means meeting one's own numinosity without fleeing, actively living with the wild nature in one's own way. It means to be able to learn, to be able to stand what we know. It means to stand and live.

I would tell myself the same thing that I continue to tell myself today, which is don't sweat the small things.

I think your emotion changes from person to person. As you get older, a lot of people become cynical because of the experiences they have had and haven't been able to let go of, whether they've been cheated on or whether it hasn't worked out. It's so easy to turn around right now and say, "Just let it go."