Michael Johnson Quotes

I was a quiet kid on the streets. The loudmouths would push me around but when I was boxing, I was beating them up and it felt good.

Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself.

I refuse to be pushed around anymore.

I stand up to people.

I think it's so wrong to play the victim. There's too many brave women out there that just won't even tolerate it, you know?

I'm not just a doormat. I'm not just being stepped on all over the place. If you look at the bulk of my material, it's about trying to find some strength through that.

It was just bred in me that I would not back down to guys who were bigger than me.

When I was younger, I was always that person that loved to get stuck in. When my mum and grandma used to come and watch me, I used to make sure that I wouldn't let anybody push me around and not let anybody bully me.

In order to survive, I created a certain type of aura about myself that I was the baddest chick walking down the street. Anytime somebody underestimates me, Thug Rose comes out.

You can't let yourself be pushed around. You can't live in fear. I mean, some people do live in fear. You can't live in fear. That's no way to live your life.

If I have to be fierce, I'll be fierce.

The first and great commandment is, don't let them scare you.

I'm damn successful but I got here by not taking crap. I still don't take crap, so if anybody needs a champion, let it be me.

Nobody picks on a strong man.

I had to learn not to let anyone push me around, to be brave and to say things I knew might make people mad.

You can either hope and pray you don't get picked on, or you can, in a way, almost make yourself a bigger target, because it's harder to bully something that's really big. It's easy to bully something that's small and frail.

I've always fought for what I believe in. I used to get made fun of for dancing, and I would argue back, or fight the kids, or do whatever I had to do to shut them up. I have that in me.

In an age of bullies, we cannot afford to be a sissy.

New York and I are not punching bags. You hit us and we will hit back.

I grew up in the Midwest, and I was a short, fat, little Jewish kid... but it was just different. People didn't understand, so I had to deal with it. One day, I physically dealt with it, and it never happened again. I'm not saying that's the way to do it, but you have to stand up for yourself, period, end of story.

Be brave and be fearless, and for God's sake, stand up for yourself.

I'm not a victim.

I'm not a guy who goes into the neighborhood, gets beat up by the bully's gang, and then now I want to join their gang. That's just not me. I wanna fight - let's go! I mean, I'm gonna stand up for myself. That's just the competitive nature of where I come from, the era I grew up in.

I will continue to be good but if people think I don't have a voice and that I don't take stand for myself, that's what I will do. I will show that I have another side to me.

I'm gonna fall back, do my thing, but goddamn, I'm going to be a tough dude to deal with.