Rationality is not one of this industry's attributes.

And so figure skating was a great vehicle for me to kind of be competitive at something, without having to be big.

I had a ninth grade teacher who told me I was much smarter and much better than I was allowing myself to be.

What was really funny is that as I got older all those guys who called me a sissy in junior high school wanted me to be their best friend because they wanted to meet all the girls that I knew in figure skating.

I started skating and I kind of liked it because I could run circles around the guys that wouldn't pick me to play baseball.

Always try to maintain complete tolerance and always make an effort to give people more than they expect.

Half of figure skating is opinion, convincing judges.

Male figure skating is different than female figure skating; we're not America's sweetheart.

Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.

So as an amateur Olympic competitor I loved criticism, because it made me better. But now as a professional I don't really know how to channel it or where to take it, so I don't take it quite as well.

But I never really thought that I would be extraordinarily successful at skating, it's just something that happened, you know.

I was nine-years-old when I first put on skates.

Everything that I've ever been able to accomplish in skating and in life has come out of adversity and perseverance.

The only disability in life is a bad attitude.

I'm very accessible. I don't get into this ego thing.

Most other competitions are individual achievements, but the Olympic Games is something that belongs to everybody.

I just try to touch people's hearts in a way through skating, so they're not just witnessing a performance, they're feeling a performance and they're a part of it.

Rationality is not one of this industry's attributes.

I was more interested in skating and the girls and traveling than I was in calculus.

When you turn professional, you become an entertainer, and like every other entertainer, you don't want to get a bad review.

When you're expected to win and you have the press saying that you are going to win the Olympic gold medal, and you're the only sure thing in the Olympics, it can undermine your confidence.

I didn't want to be the sissy figure skater, you know.

The high road is always respected. Honesty and integrity are always rewarded.

Without strength and courage it's really hard to perform at the highest levels of international figure skating, because you're alone on the ice and you only have seven minutes over two nights to prove yourself.

Fame is a very confusing thing, because you are recognized by a lot of people that you've never seen before, and they're at a great advantage.

That's what makes the Ryder Cup in golf so much better than the Masters or the U.S. Open. To be a part of something that is not about personal achievement, but about representing everyone and sharing it with the whole country, it's wonderful.

And the fact that I liked to show off and be the center of attention really lends itself to figure skating very well.

From the fall of October, 1980 to March, 1984 I never lost a competition.

I don't think most teachers realize how much impact they have.

I graduated a the top of my class in the '84 Olympic Games; I won a gold medal.

Male figure skating is different than female figure skating were not Americas sweetheart.

Without strength and courage its really hard to perform at the highest levels of international figure skating because youre alone on the ice and you only have seven minutes over two nights to prove yourself.

Half of figure skating is opinion convincing judges.

I'm easy to hate.

When I was a young artist, I liked and was interested in belonging to the mainstream comics group. I didn't introduce myself as an author, but only as a designer.

I was raised in the Jewish tradition, taught never to marry a Gentile, women shave on Saturday and most especially never to shave a Gentile woman on Saturday.

My symphonies would have reached Opus 100 if I had but written them down... Sometimes I am so full of music, and so overflowing with melody, that I find it simply impossible to write down anything.

I am just too much.

The Caucus I joined in 1953 had as many Boer War veterans as men who had seen active service in World War II, three from each. The Ministry appointed on 5 December 1972 was composed entirely of ex-servicemen: Lance Barnard and me.

The first and pivotal negotiations over global access to AIDS drugs began in Geneva in 1991. They lasted two years, but confidential minutes suggest they were doomed the first day.

My main thing is music; it's what I do.

In Vancouver, in Sydney and in Orange County, we live among fluorescent stores and streets so brightly lit that you can read a book after dark; in other places across our global body, there are blackouts and curfews every night.

I used to have nightmares when I was a little kid that I woke up prematurely and opened all the Christmas presents. And then I would be so relieved when I woke up and I realized that I hadn't done it.

I just like to build things and do things.

Some women's love of being loved is insatiable; and so, often, is their love of loving; and in the last case they may find that they can't give it continuously to the chamber-officer appointed by the bishop's license to receive it.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I want to give 100 percent to everything.

Being generous of spirit is a wonderful way to live.

Mommy knows a lot but Grandma knows everything

I went straight from the Marine Corps to the MFA. The way that you would express things among Marines is somewhat different than the way you're supposed to express things in a creative-writing workshop.