Nothing came easy. I was just born with a need to explore every part of my mind. And with long searching and hard work, I became devoted to my restlessness.
Gordon ParksRead
At first I wasn't sure that I had the talent, but I did know I had a fear of failure, and that fear compelled me to fight off anything that might abet it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes overcoming self-doubt and fear of failure through determination and effort.
Gordon Parks expresses that while he initially questioned his own talent, it was his fear of failing that motivated him to push through challenges and obstacles. This highlights the idea that fear can be a powerful motivator, prompting us to take action and work harder to succeed despite our insecurities.
Themes
FearFailureTalentCourageMotivation
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about resilience and overcoming challenges.
More from Gordon Parks
All quotes →I suffered evils, but without allowing them to rob me of the freedom to expand.
Gordon ParksRead
You know, the camera is not meant just to show misery.
Gordon ParksRead
If you don't have anything to say, your photographs aren't going to say much.
Gordon ParksRead
The camera could be a very powerful instrument against discrimination, against poverty, against racism.
Gordon ParksRead
And I think that after nearly 85 years upon this planet that I have a right after working so hard at showing the desolation and the poverty, to show something beautiful for somebody as well.
Gordon ParksRead
Similar quotes
A child comes to see his father play, have fun, make people happy, and what does he see? He sees people booing his father for being black. They make monkey noises. They throw bananas at his teammates and all that.
Samuel Eto'ORead
This is the first teaching of the Knights: You will erase everything you had written in the book of your life up until now: restlessness, uncertainty, lies. And in the place of all this you will write the word courage.
Paulo CoelhoRead
Right out of high school I never had the fear of getting beat, which is how most people lose.
Dan GableRead
If you think of all the publicity about the terrible tragedy of Virginia Tech, we have a Virginia Tech in this country every day. It's just spread across 50 states.
Michael BloombergRead
Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself — and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.
Chief JosephRead
Anti-Semitism hits me on the head: I am enraged, I am bled white by an appalling battle, I am deprived of the possibility of being man. I cannot disassociate myself from the future that is proposed for my brother.
Frantz FanonRead