Joseph Heller Quotes

To suffer some anxiety, some depression, some disappointment, even some failure is normal.

I was badly bullied when I was in the seventh grade - relentlessly, mercilessly - by a group of 12-year-old girls. And it left me with a determination that no matter what, I had to throw my shoulders back, stick out my chin, and project a sense that no one and nothing could hurt me. That turned out to be a life-changing mistake.

In my life I've gone through a lot of really hard times. I went through depression and had so many challenges that I overcame. And I overcame because I just decided to be happy.

I've had great success and I've had catastrophic failure. It's really how you handle the rough stuff that defines you, I think.

I know from my own personal experience. I was bullied in middle school and high school and went through my fair share of hard times thereafter. Also, one of my really good friends committed suicide when I was in high school.

Avoid problems, and you'll never be the one who overcame them.

I think with challenges, you either overcome them or you fall behind and become a statistic.

The period from 2001 to 2005 was really tough. My films were not working even though there was an acceptance of a model. I was depressed but did not cry. I cry when I am happy.

But at the end of the day, every star, every person that been iconic, has gone through a time in their lives where it was just bad. Everybody. It just made them better.

While I've had plenty of ups and downs, dealt with my share of failure, and struggled through emotionally difficult periods, I'm fundamentally an optimist.

I think a person's true worth is measured during times of failure.

The war made me stronger; it was a very hard time for me and my family. I don't want to drag that with me forever, but I don't want to forget about it, either.

I'm going to talk about my struggles and come-up.

When you experience lows like I have it just makes you hungry to go and succeed even more, and make sure days like that don't happen as much as they have done.

Disappointment Can do a couple things. It can drop you into a giant sucking sinkhole of depression, a place you have to fight to climb out of. Or it can trigger an epic mania to overcome the odds and transform failure into success. Say you swing as high as the chains will take you because you seek the thrill of flight, and on the up- kick, you lose your seat. Injury is likely. But if you worry about falling down, and never chance "up," the sky will remain forever out of reach.

I like to keep my issues drawn, it's always darkest before the dawn.

Not every man can carry a full cup. Sudden elevation frequently leads to pride and a fall. The most exacting test of all to survive is prosperity.

When I was 8 years old, I became depressed. I kept asking why I was born this way [without arms and legs]. I also worried about my future. At the age of 10, I tried to commit suicide because I felt like giving up. But when I imagined my loving parents crying at my grave, I decided to stay.

I have a love-hate relationship with losing. I hate how it makes me feel, which is basically sick. But I love what it brings out.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned...is that we all have to learn from our mistakes, and we learn from those mistakes a lot more than we learn from the things we succeeded in doing.

He tells us that life isn't about what happens to you, it's about what you do about what happens to you.

Depression is something that has always figured in my life but now I'm dealing with it. I wish I'd done this years ago because it's been really helpful.

Both success and struggle are different kinds of trauma.

So to really be able to dive into what does it mean to be broken by an experience, and I developed it just through research and talking and understanding the truth of what it means to lose everything.

You don't get character because you're successful; you build character because of the hardships you face.