Big Narstie Quotes

I was in jail a couple of times, and I was probably heading back there for a long time. But martial arts saved my life and some of the choices I made with it.

I like to think that even if we make some really bad choices and go down some bad paths, we'll eventually emerge from it.

There are young people all over the country who don’t always have the helping hand, the second chance that I had.

My freshman and sophomore years in high school, I spent a lot of time trying to get back on the right track. I was arrested multiple times by the time I was 16, so I had a little harder time trying to adjust like a lot of us do in high school.

A rough beginning doesn't have to mean there is a rough end.

I was an opportunist and got away with things because I was very young, but I went to prison and came out and remade my life.

I've never stabbed, hurt, killed, stolen, anything, but I went to jail for a year. What is that? My pastor said to me the fact that I'm not living under a bridge as a crazy woman, talking to myself, is amazing.

To be very honest, I never thought I would graduate from high school. I got very lucky to get into an alternative high school, which really saved my butt.

Growing up, I think I was arrested 20-odd times by the Boston police. The good news is that I've been able to use those experiences in a lot of my roles, and that has been a blessing.

I want to be an example of a guy who made something of himself out of nothing. A guy who overcame the odds of a tough childhood, who worked hard, who didn't let his surroundings get the best of him and lead him to jail or the graveyard. Where I ended up - being a comedian, a TV star, and a movie actor - might be unique, but my story is not.

I came up from a difficult background.

I think it's important for us as a society to remember that the youth within juvenile justice systems are, most of the time, youths who simply haven't had the right mentors and supporters around them - because of circumstances beyond their control.

It is strange when you're a loser in college, which I was, to then get your own show.

I could have easily gone down the wrong path and dropped out of school, but I was given a second chance.

For a guy who used to steal watches on the streets of Chandni Chowk for kicks, I surely think my success at the age of 22 was pretty early!

In 1974 I was trying to get my first little band together. That year marked kind of a traumatic point in my life, but I had a lot of support from friends and family and a lot of good things ended up coming out of it.

There is nothing as sweet as a comeback, when you are down and out, about to lose, and out of time.

If it wasn't for my sport and my father, I'd probably be a fallen statistic. I'd be dead; I'd be in jail. Luckily, I had a great dad in my life.

I came out even with all the struggles I endured on Rikers Island.

I don't come from money or an educated family background or any sort of supportive family life, so all of my choices are made on my own.

Everyone hits bottom their own way.

I had to fight my whole life to break out of my circumstances. That's just part of my makeup.

If we were really tough on crime, we'd try to save our children from the desperation and deprivation that leave them primed for a life of crime.

There is a very good chance I could have been a screw-up for the rest of my life.

I think most people have a general sense that when you're released from prison, life is hard, but, you know, if you work hard and apply self-discipline and stay out of trouble, you can make it. But that's true only for a relative few.