I consider skateboarding an art form, a lifestyle and a sport. 'Action sport' would be the least offensive categorization.
Interpretation
Skateboarding is not just a physical activity, but a form of artistic expression and a way of life.
In this quote, Tony Hawk emphasizes that skateboarding transcends traditional definitions and embodies creativity, a unique lifestyle, and athletic prowess. He suggests that reducing it to merely an 'action sport' underestimates its artistic and cultural significance, highlighting the depth and personal connection many have with skateboarding.
In practice
Using this quote in a presentation about the cultural impact of skateboarding.
The pro skaters I know are responsible members of society. Many of them are fathers, homeowners, world travelers and successful entrepreneurs. Their hairdos and tattoos are simply part of our culture, even when they raise eyebrows during PTA meetings.
I believe that people should take pride in what they do, even if it is scorned or misunderstood by the public at large.
If I can stand up when I'm 80, I'll be happy to cruise around on a skateboard. If I feel like my skills are fading, I just won't do it publicly.
When I started skating, it was such a small community. You didn't aspire to be rich or famous or make a career out of it because that wasn't something anyone had done yet.
My definition of success is doing what you love. I feel many people do things because they feel they have to, and are hesitant to risk following their passion.
Skateistan's not just about skating. Itβs giving people life skills and hope for the future.
I would be the unhappiest person imaginable, confronted daily with disastrous works crying out with errors, imprecision, carelessness, amateurishness. I avoided this punishment by destroying them, I thought, and suddenly I took great pleasure in the word destroying.
Whoever does not visit Paris regularly will never really be elegant.
Color is one of the great things in the world that makes life worth living to me and as I have come to think of painting it is my efforts to create an equivalent with paint color for the world, life as I see it.
He who pretends to be either painter or engraver without being a master of drawing is an imposter.
The tea ceremony requires years of training and practice ... yet the whole of this art, as to its detail, signifies no more than the making and serving of a cup of tea. The supremely important matter is that the act be performed in the most perfect, most polite, most graceful, most charming manner possible.
Everything was a song. Every conversation, every personal hurt, every observance of people in stress, happiness and love... if you could feel it, I could feel it. And I could write a song about it.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.