O, Youth: Do you know that yours is not the first generation to yearn for a life full of beauty and freedom?
When I was in high school, I don't know that I really had big dreams.
We have unleashed aspirations of youngsters. Democracy is not going to go backwards. India is too big a country to be run by one person. We are going to accelerate the process of democratization and I think that is the biggest opportunity for Congress party because that is the DNA of the Congress
I thought at first I was going to be an NFL quarterback. I played until I was a freshman in high school.
When you're growing up and thinking about being a footballer, you want to make as many caps and play as many games as you can.
The younger generation forms a country of its own. It has no geographical boundaries. I've talked with young Hungarians in Budapest, with young Italians in Rome, with young Frenchmen in Paris, and with young people all over. ... These young people are going to do things. They are going to change things.
When you're younger, everyone wants to be a point guard. Everyone wants to shoot fadeaway jump shots all day. Nobody wants to be a big man. Nobody wants to go stand on the block and just set picks.
When I was five, 10, 15 years old, I always dreamed of being in the best league in the world, playing with some of the best clubs.
Youth demands more than ordinary life. Age clings to it.
Jane Addams, founder of Hull House, once asked, "How shall we respond to the dreams of youth?" It is a dazzling and elegant question, a question that demands an answer--a range of answers, really, spiraling outward in widening circles.
As a kid growing up in Canton, Ohio, you never see yourself in a position to play in the NBA, much less have somebody pay you to wear shoes.
I met children who want to be social workers, lawyers, doctors, community activists and soldiers so they can help their people rise above still difficult economic circumstances.
I've never been someone who loves a car and when I was young I didn't have the ambition of a car or something like that.
This is not a pleasant route for many young people to consider. You have to be either hopelessly passionate, or very stupid.
Being in front of the camera - first of all, when I wanted to get into television, it was as a producer. I never had an idea that I would do anything in front of the camera, and that kind of happened by accident. But I wanted to be a producer or give me a job with the Yankees or play for the Knicks. I was a sports nut when I was a kid.
As a leader of a majority-Muslim nation, I believe Islamic countries must better understand what young people aspire to.
As a kid, you dream of winning the Stanley Cup. As you get older, you understand the importance of winning the Olympics.
I know a lot of people say they always believed they could get into F1, but I didn't quite believe that, certainly not when I was 7 and maybe not until I was 14. It was always so far away.
I wanted to get on with my life when I was 16. I knew I wanted to be an actor. I wanted to get out of Detroit.
I decided at 10 I wanted to be in a band; everyone else wanted to play football.
I was also interested in chemistry, but my parents were not willing to buy me a chemistry set.
During adolescence imagination is boundless. The urge toward self-perfection is at its peak. And with all their self- absorption and personalized dreams of glory, youth are in pursuit of something larger than personal passions, some values or ideals to which they might attach their imaginations.
It seems to me that at 19 or 20, a young man is burning to be great at something. I was. You have a vision that's beyond the neighborhood. You want to make a mark while you're alive. You don't know exactly your future, but you want to be great at it. And greatness is an important word. And you dare not tell anybody how extreme and how burning are your visions, because you don't want anybody to mess with them
Any time you can have your logo or your name on a shoe, growing up that's a dream come true.
When I was a youngster, my dream was to play in the first team. I was constantly thinking, 'Will I make a career in football? Am I going to have to go out and get a job?'
