Career Perseverance Quotes

There are times in my career where I could've called it quits, and that would've ate at me for the rest of my life.

Never give up your day job. I do all sorts of things, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to 'The Today Show,' and I love doing this thing, and they will have to blow me out of here with dynamite before I leave.

My husband really treats my writing like it's a job - and he reminds me of that when I have those low moments where I think I should just quit and become a waitress.

I'd just thank the people out there who have been with my up-and-down, weird-road, strange career and supported me and stuck with me all these years. I mean, they're my boss. That's what keeps me working.

I didn't write professionally at first. It took me nine years to get anything published. At the beginning I mostly wrote picture books, which were rejected by every children's book publisher in America. The first book of mine to be accepted for publication was ELLA ENCHANTED, and not one but two publishers wanted it. That day, April 17, 1996, was one of the happiest in my life.

If you decide you want to work in the film industry, you just have to bite the bullet and take other jobs until the proper jobs come in.

I just wanted to sing, to get my voice heard. I knew I had to do everything possible to stay in the industry.

It's not an easy thing to be in this league 10 years. Especially with me being a second-round pick, the 46th pick, and an undersized guard, to carve a lane for myself and have a career, for my family to realize that and appreciate that, it meant a lot to me.

It's a good time for me, but it's only recently I've become comfortable in my job. At the start, it's hard having the nerve to call yourself an actor, let alone doing it. I gave myself two years after drama school, and if I didn't make it, then I'd give it up.

I try to search for roles where the character is not dependent on how she looks, but it is hard because I didn't know anyone in this industry, so I started as an extra and fought.

I do take lots of time off between projects, but when the right thing comes along, I don't like to turn it down, I've been doing this for a decade, and I remember what it was like when I started. You spend maybe five percent of your time actually doing it, and the rest of the time, you're trying to get that five percent.

Sometimes films might not work, but you as an actor should keep working. Because no matter how much you panic about how your film didn't work, eventually, when you step out in the real world, there are people who value you as an artist.

If I get the boot out of the UFC, I'll still continue to fight.

I've had five surgeries that could have ended most people's careers. But because of the fact that I'm resilient and have a lot of pride, I refused to let myself go out except on my terms. An injury is not going to take me out.

I admire Brad Pitt, honestly, just because of how he started and the obstacles he had to overcome to have the career that he's had.

When not much is happening and there seems to be nothing you can do to change that, you do wonder. But I am an actor, like it or not. I stuck with it and took what was offered.

I always say that comedians and actors were all kind of shy when they were young. I was very, believe it or not, kind of embarrassed as a child. But my mother was a very strong lady and she was the one that kept it going when I thought it would be over for me as a performer. She was always my inspiration and she was a big influence on me.

I got so discouraged, I almost stopped writing. It was my 12-year-old son who changed my mind when he said to me, "Mother, you've been very cross and edgy with us and we notice you haven't been writing. We wish you'd go back to the typewriter. That did a lot of good for my false guilts about spending so much time writing. At that point, I acknowledged that I am a writer and even if I were never published again, that's what I am."

'Green Lantern' I screen-tested for twice. I fought for the role. And I'm glad I did, because I felt like I earned it.

You've got to love this business. You have to be able to take rejection.

Believe in yourself and in your own voice, because there will be times in this business when you will be the only one who does. Take heart from the knowledge that an author with a strong voice will often have trouble at the start of his or her career because strong,distinctive voices sometimes make editors nervous. But in the end, only the strong survive.

I had a million jobs before I managed to make a living out of poetry.

After 'The Hobbit,' I have no idea if things will change. I suspect if I still want to act I will have to put in the hard yards, not rest on my laurels. A lot of it is right place, right time, but I enjoy the challenge, constantly refining my craft, not taking it too seriously but never taking it for granted.

It's true that this year, following my accident in the pre-season, I kind of lost morale and I felt like quitting at the end of this year. But today I can say that I want to be a professional bike rider in the year 2003 as well.