Rising to the Challenge Quotes

You long for success? Start at the bottom; dig down.

What you think is the summit is only a step up

It is hardship that makes clear who the "fighters" are.

It would be hard to get worse. I had only one direction to go.

And I get so nervous now when it's not my show, like I'm not the headliner, because I know that those fans are there for another artist. Many people might not know an upcoming artist, but I've grown to like those shows because if I can control a crowd that doesn't know me, I'm doing my job as an entertainer. I have to rise to the occasion.

My whole career, I've been an underdog, I've been underestimated. Therefore, I've had a chip on my shoulder my entire career. Being drafted in the second round when you think you're supposed to be in the first round, a lottery pick, the chip grows bigger. And you have more to prove.

Going in, I knew I wasn't one of the top ones, because I didn't even make the pre-season All-American team. That shows you what people thought of me right there, so I knew I had to go to work.

I'm very competitive by nature. And I like to be the underdog - It's the best way to win. To come from behind and win is a great feeling!

Life is on an incline; you either go up, or you come down.

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

What is courage? Let me tell you what I think it is. An indefinable quality that makes a man put out that extra something, when it seems there is nothing else to give. I dare you to be better than you are. I dare you to be a thoroughbred.

I love when people underestimate me and then become pleasantly surprised.

If the challenge seems a bit too overwhelming, that's the one you want. Take it on & let it pull you up.

I do think you can't be as good as the person next to you to play: you have to be better.

I went from being a big fish in a small pond to going to City with a lot of top players, I felt like I had to work really hard to be the best.

I like being the underdog so they don't expect what's going to happen. It pushes me to work harder and do the things I'm not doing better.

The loss of fortune to a true man is but the trumpet challenge to renewed exertion, not the thunder stroke of destruction.

Only true champions come out and show their worth after defeat- and I expect us to do that.

The one way to get me to work my hardest was to doubt me.

You have to raise your game to the level of those around you. Then you have to maintain that high level, and by doing this I think I am improving naturally.

Somehow, people act like I have no competition, but the thing is, the competition is so good that it forces me to be better than I even thought was possible.

To equal a predecessor, one must have twice they worth.

Life is never more fun than when you're the underdog competing against the giants.

Bold words and bolder deeds are what we want. Awake, awake, great ones! The world is burning with misery. Can you sleep?

I'm not the quiet sensitive little guy I was. I can't be. There's just too much after me.