Fame is a very confusing thing, because you are recognized by a lot of people that you’ve never seen before, and they’re at a great advantage.
Memories just get richer with time.
The Olympics in ’80 was phenomenal. It was my favorite memory of all competitive events, because it was brand new and it was exciting.
When you’re expected to win and you have the press saying that you are going to win the Olympic gold medal, and you’re the only sure thing in the Olympics, it can undermine your confidence.
So as an amateur Olympic competitor I loved criticism, because it made me better. But now as a professional I don’t really know how to channel it or where to take it, so I don’t take it quite as well.
I had a ninth grade teacher who told me I was much smarter and much better than I was allowing myself to be.
I’m very accessible. I don’t get into this ego thing.
But I never really thought that I would be extraordinarily successful at skating, it’s just something that happened, you know.
I just try to touch people’s hearts in a way through skating, so they’re not just witnessing a performance, they’re feeling a performance and they’re a part of it.
Rationality is not one of this industry’s attributes.
Always try to maintain complete tolerance and always make an effort to give people more then they expect.
A bad attitude is the only true handicap.
Each movement is only learned after you’ve perfected the one before it.
I don’t want to look back-I want to keep looking ahead. I’d hate for my defining moment to be my past.
I didn’t want to be the sissy figure skater, you know.
I don’t think most teachers realize how much impact they have.
Focus on building up others, and your own sense of self-worth will improve. Some call these random acts of human kindness. But the truth is, acting unselfishly is not random at all. Instead, it is a conscious, concerted effort to make the world better by making someone else’s life better. The bonus: you will be happier by doing it.
Have you ever stopped for a minute to think about how many things had to go wrong in your life for you to end up exactly where you are?
The path to victory is the path you’re on. It becomes a path to victory the moment you decide it does.
Some bad things are going to happen, but more great things are going to happen. If you tend to see more bad than good, then you have to build that positive muscle in your brain much like an athlete does certain muscles to execute a certain move.