Jamaica Kincaid Quotes

I know that a lot of people take inspiration from the fact that I was just a common man with no film background who turned into a star.

I've been able to reach from the streets to the suites.

I came from nothing. I came from the projects and welfare and ended up a millionaire with no frame of reference. I was bound to hit a wall sooner or later.

Barack Obama was not born into wealth or privilege, yet today his is president of these United States of America. Barack Obama has lived the American Dream. He has walked in our shoes.

If you think about where I'm from, I'm not supposed to be singing in the first place. I'm not supposed to be alive right now.

I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth; I came from really humble beginnings - the projects of New York City - and I worked my way to get to where I am.

I was a poor kid. I came from nothing. We didn't have any money; a lot of times we didn't have any food, and now, all of a sudden, I'm a superhero in a Marvel movie? Talk about the American dream, man - I'm living it.

You can make something out of nothing. I proved that with my career, making it out of the city that I'm from.

I just love the idea of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, whether it's the success of 'Cool Runnings,' which is the success of four guys from Jamaica who had never seen snow, or whether it's my success, just as a human being.

All I would say is it doesn't matter where you come from. Like, Jim Sheridan comes from the inner city, and he's one of the top ones, a top lad.

I've had a very unusual background in science - not the usual route of planning on being a scientist from age 3. I think my story shows that success is more about personal motivation and determination than it is about where you were born or what your economic status was.

I came from such a simple origin, without any great privilege, and I would say I also wanted to make a mark. It wasn't until I was about 15 that I appeared in a race.

It has given me a global vantage point, being the daughter of immigrants from China, who had nothing when they came here. And now I am leading a company. It speaks to something deep in me, the concept that you don't have to start with anything.

I don't know what I did in this life to deserve all of this. I'm just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream.

People ask how can a Jewish kid from the Bronx do preppy clothes? Does it have to do with class and money? It has to do with dreams.

I'm living proof you can excel regardless of where you come from.

A Texas girl who grew up in terrible poverty, I ended up leading a pretty glamorous life.

I came from nothing really to something; I came from the gutter to making the gutters.

You don't have to be the biggest to beat the biggest.

To be great we need to win games we aren't supposed to win.

I might have been born in a hovel but I am determined to travel with the wind and the stars.

As a Southerner and as a Mormon you approach life in this aspirational way: 'I will rise above my station.'

Most actors come from the streets, and their rise to fame is guided by a natural anger. It was harder to find that rage coming from a gentle background.

Both my parents are first-generation success stories.

I like being the underdog. I like turning around and shutting people up when they tell me I can't.