Lukas Podolski Quotes

My mother was one of seven girls whose parents went to bed hungry so their children wouldn't. My father lost his mother when he was nine. He left school and went to work for the next 70 years. They emigrated to America with little more than the hope of a better life.

I was in the heart and soul of Baltimore. I definitely felt a connection to the people. They're really hard-working people that want to have a better life. And I saw the struggle that exists there.

When I am made fun of in the press I just remember those days when I'd come home to find that the water had been turned off because my mother couldn't afford the bill. Suddenly, everything feels easier.

When I started out, I struggled, and I was broke a lot. But I'm glad I struggled, and I'm glad I was broke a lot.

Once you become poor, tired and time-constrained, you become a much better human being.

Poverty makes you wise but it's a curse.

I'd seen my father. He was a poor man, and I watched him do astonishing things.

My mother cleaned homes and drove school buses, and when my family was on the brink of foreclosure... I started bartending and waitressing.

I grew up in a working-class neighborhood, so there was always a sense of struggle, but we had hope.

My father was raised in an orphanage, and my mother was an immigrant from Poland whose first childhood memory was of hunger. Somehow, despite all of that, I am called a member of the 'elite.' If so, I damned well earned it.

Poverty was my mother's midwife. She had her children in poverty. But she also found a road to bring us a sense of purpose, and she taught us how to be valiant in the face of oppression.

I lived below the poverty line when I was young and starting out as a writer. But my wife and I kept trying to do things better, as anyone with ambition does. But just because you're trying doesn't mean you're always going to succeed.

My parents did not come to the U.S. with much; they had a lot of hardship.

When I was struggling to get recognition as a wrestler, I faced innumerable hardships. I even slept on the ring itself after finishing my practice. Those days, I did not have a house to live.

My mom would get up every day at 4 A.M. and worked two jobs. I always felt I was the poorest kid on the block. I had a chip on my shoulder about being broke.

My mother really struggled when we were young. She was on food stamps and welfare. Looking back, I know we didn't have a lot, but I never felt I was at a loss for anything.

The American Dream - I believe in that cliche because I know what having nothing feels like.

I don't want no handouts. I want to get it out the mud.

I recall the hard work that my family went through just to continue to live the lifestyle that we were living, which wasn't by any means a great lifestyle.

I had a very humble upbringing, earned everything I got, and learned how challenging it is in the pro wrestling business.

I can honestly say from my experience, my family and I had to start from scratch. We left Venezuela back in 1998 and sold the few things we had to come to America in search of the American dream. We went through really tough times. There were moments where we were wondering are we going to make it.

Nothing has ever come easy for me.

I've been at the very bottom of poverty, and it's not so bad. It's even kind of interesting. You can live there with a certain amount of style.

I can't help but recall my dad and mom. Depression era kids, 8th and 9th grade educations, clawed and scratched to make a living as dairy farmers their whole life. At least two drought cycles nearly took it all away. They just worked harder, longer... and they made it.

I've experienced poverty and plenty, and there's a lesson to be learned when you're brought up in poverty.